Dr. John Allison, Wilfrid Laurier University
International Studies Association Convention, March 2005
Page 2 of 20
International Studies Association
Hawaii Convention
Honolulu, Hawaii
March 2, 2005
Leadership and Time: An Issue of Global Governance
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"They say time is the fire in which we burn."
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Abstract
Global governance is dependent on factors that are beyond the reach of many contemporary nation-
states, including the current hegemon, the United States. Many global issues these governments face
have a time span that is multi-generational. Much of the focus of leaders however is on the now. The
recent elections in the United States and the war in Iraq illustrate how addicted contemporary
governments are to” the now.” The rate of temporal change is accelerating and the ability to deal with
larger longer scale questions is as of yet undeveloped. This paper argues that contemporary hegemons
and would be world leaders must develop new strategies and capacities to manage future time and
change. The schedules of leaders worldwide inhibit their abilities to look at longer-term questions.
Contemporary international governmental organizations threaten to sink under the weight of their
scheduling commitments. Lastly, emphasis on a “just in time” world cripples the ability to look at the
longer-term problems. Assessing the temporal dimension of global governance is crucial to further
efforts to address many international issues.
Leaders, Schedules and the Long View
When the activities of most international leaders are observed today, they are like
most executives, harried, not enough time to deal with the crises that are breaking out
simultaneously and address the needs of their ever expanding bureaucracies. The trend in
recent years in this direction has been increasing in speed. The activities of several
leaders give one a sense of this. The literature about the role that leaders have played in
the development of their nations has addressed this problem before. Some have called for
the problem to be addressed under the rubric of the democratization of global
governance.
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Dr. Tolian Soran(Malcolm MacDowell), Star Trek Generations. David Carson, director. Star Trek
Generations (Los Angeles: Paramount Studios ,1994). Runtime: 117minutes.
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Patomäki, Heikki.(2003) “Problems of Democratizing Global Governance: Time, Space and the
Emancipatory Process.” European Journal of International Relations. Vol. 9. No.3. p.348.
Convention