‘Giving’ as a Foundation for Global Governance
By Siew-Huat Kong
The statement A Governance Befitting reminds us that “periods of turbulence have presented opportunities to redefine collective values and the assumptions that underlie them.” The global pandemic has done just that. The world order today is based on assumptions of state sovereignty, with relationships between nations shaped largely by self-interest and competition. Whatever benefits this order has provided humanity, it is clearly reaching its limits. A re-examination of the assumptions which bind the nations as one body politic is long-due. And central to arrangements that meet the needs of an increasingly interdependent world must be an ethic of giving and generosity, translated into policy and action.
The human body provides insight into the crucial role of giving in an interconnected and integrated system. Here, no cell lives apart from the body; rather, each contributes to the health and development of the whole. Relationships between constituent elements are based on “cooperation, mutual assistance and reciprocity.” And the structured arrangements of cells and organs that arise from these relationships allow the system as a whole to function at levels higher than its respective parts.
What is to be learned by applying such lessons to the body politic—by taking giving, instead of competitive acquisition, as the basis of collective prosperity? In such a reimagined global order, the dignity of a nation derives from being a source of peace and prosperity to others. Just as the individual cell fulfills its highest mission by serving the entire body, the individual nation demonstrates its exalted station by promoting the well-being of the whole world. Every country, regardless of its social or economic condition, can give something to the development of the emerging global civilization, and each has a right to enjoy the fruits of this civilization. It becomes clear that “the advantage of the part … is best served by promoting the advantage of the whole.”**
To be sure, when a country develops itself, such as by eradicating illiteracy or lifting its population from poverty, it is making a meaningful contribution to the whole. However, the very purpose of national development is best located in the context of addressing global goals. Even the act of providing international assistance, for instance, stands as a means to develop the nation itself. When giving is translated into policy, the purpose of foreign investment is to share one’s resources or expertise, rather than to exploit recipient nations. International trade is re-structured to help reduce the disparity between rich and poor countries, rather than favoring nations with stronger economic muscle. Firms go international not to take advantage of lower environmental and worker protection and favorable taxation regimes, but to enhance the economic life of the destination countries. But it is not charity that is intended here, nor a set of activities “that one group of people carries out for the benefit of another”.*** By “giving”, is meant both voluntary sharing and contributing to the empowerment of the other parties.
In the final analysis, “The happiness and pride of a nation consist in this, that it should shine out like the sun in the high heaven of knowledge.”**** The sun, it should be noted, gives its bounty unconditionally. Towards this end, the promotion of dialogue and exchange between nations and cultures should be a top policy priority—but this in such a way that interactions are “free of manipulation for partisan political ends.”*****
As the foremost objective of national policy is redefined—what the nation can contribute to other states, rather than what it can get from them—new metrics of development will be required. These might reflect the extent that the nation’s educational curriculum promotes global citizenship, the effort made to nurture a culture of giving, the emphasis on exchange between nations, the number of collaborative projects with other nations, and most importantly, the level of resources—from intellectual to technological—dedicated to assisting other states.
For giving and service to others to be the hallmark of a nation’s foreign policy, they must become the norm domestically. Put simply, giving begins at home. To develop a culture of giving, change in personal consciousness must accompany the kinds of policy and structural adjustments mentioned above. Educational curricula that emphasize world citizenship with giving at the core are needed, as is discourse at different levels and in different spaces that promotes “giving” as a pattern of thought and action. Indeed, transformation can start simply with conversation between a few friends on the state of the present world order—provided that the circle of conversation can expand to welcome others. The peoples of the world need to know that a key way to express one’s nobility today is by raising consciousness of the oneness of humankind and assisting in laying foundations for international structures of governance that give effect to this organizing principle.
The above might sound naïve to some. But even this falls short when measured against the requirements and central theme of this age: the oneness of humankind. This is the reality of a reimagined world order based on a different set of assumptions. Its time has come.
*'Abdu'l-Bahá, Huqúqu'lláh: The Right of God
**The Universal House of Justice, The Promise of World Peace
***The Universal House of Justice, Ridván 2010 Message
****'Abdu'l-Bahá, The Secret of Divine Civilization
*****The Universal House of Justice, The Prosperity of Humankind
Siew-Huat Kong is a faculty member of the Department of Management and Marketing at the University of Macau. His present research interests are in the areas of managerial cognition and institutional capacity building, and he teaches management related courses at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level.
Chinese translation of this piece can be found here