New Delhi, Sept. 17 -- Global governance has broken down. The United Nations, an institution established to prevent wars after World War II, has become impotent. The rules-based trade order under the World Trade Organization (WTO) has collapsed. Multi-party electoral governance is coming apart in many countries.

It is ironic that the US, which led the formation of the UN and WTO, is now responsible for the breakdown of global governance and is no longer a role model for democracy.

A confluence of global forces has disrupted governance systems. Three of them are structural forces: technology, ecology and lopsided economic growth. Digital information and digitized money flow across national borders unimpeded, even as ecological disasters ...