Whether we like it or not, we are becoming One World. Globalization is here too stay. It is marked by
mounting interdependence in all fields, economic, technological, social, cultural and ecological. A
consensus is emerging to the effect that, if properly managed, globalization, can be a positive force for
Mankind but, if mismanaged, is likely to have serious deleterious effects. In our view, Global Governance refers to the collective effort by governments, private sector corporations and Civil Society to harness the positive effects of globalization and neutralize its negative impacts.

The New School of Athens (NSOA) is a recent international initiative whose mission statement is to explore new and better ways of managing our world . NSOA aims at becoming a 21st century version of Plato’s ancient Academy, focusing on the management of globalization and the democratization of world governance. In keeping with the tradition of the original School of Athens it will be a center of inter-ideological dialogue and a meeting place between opposing views of the world.

Founded as a joint venture of the Global Governance Group, and Mrs. Dora Bakoyanis, then Mayor of Athens and presently Foreign Affairs Minister of Greece, NSOA has staged two initial conferences. The first one known as ATHENS 1 was held in Athens Greece during the 2004 Olympic Year and the second one in 2006 at the Latsis Foundation. The third one ATHENS 3 was held from April 2 -5 2008 in Athens NSOA wants to avoid being a “me too” project replicating what is being done elsewhere. Consequently it is offering the following innovative features.

1. The Creation of a “Do Tank” focused on action plans and to do lists to help resolve the world’s
problems, as opposed to discussion clubs which never go beyond an exchange of views.

2. An Annual Tripartite Forum involving leaders from the three groups of actors most relevant to global
governance : Governments, Corporations and Civil Society (NGOs). This Forum will validate and
enrich the action plans produced by the Do-Tank

3. The Development of a “School” dispensing training and education in global management at both
the public and private level, based on the output of the Do Tank and the annual forums.

We believe that the NSOA initiative can fill a gap in the plethora of meetings and programs dealing with globalization and governance. Rather that replacing these initiatives the “Do Tank” of NSOA will glean from them, common denominators, points of convergence and ways of translating good ideas into action. Once these action plans are constructed they will be communicated by innovative methods both to key decision makers and to the general public, thus taking us one step closer to implementation.

In the tradition of the original Athenian Academy of Plato, which focused on “politics” as the administration of the polis or city state the New School of Athens will concentrate on “cosmopolitics” of the better governance of our planet for the benefit of all. A long term endeavor it will nevertheless identify short term objectives and use the annual conferences as suitable milestones. The Athens 3 Conference whose purpose and results are discussed elsewhere in this issue will be an illustration of the approach and what it can produce