On Friday 1 October 2021, the School of Transnational Governance welcomed His Excellency Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister of Singapore, for a conversation at its new headquarters Palazzo Buontalenti.
In his speech, the Minister pointed out that the major challenges facing our world today concern the global commons, such as the deterioration of natural ecosystems, which leads to a loss of hope and perceived security. These challenges can only be addressed with a common rather than a national approach. In this respect, transnational governance must serve as a means to promote a collective investment in global public goods.
Tharman Shanmugaratnam also spoke about the role of young people: “What the young generation is now doing, both collectively by voting in elections, as well as organising themselves in civil society organisations, is that they’re putting pressure on conventional politics …they’re giving them the political incentives to respond to these challenges.”
A full Hannah Arendt room listened intently to Shanmugaratnam’s speech, which was followed by a lively discussion. Check out this video to get an impression of the event, including reactions by STG students and fellows.
The conversation was organised a side-event to the final conference of the project "Transformation of Global Governance", run by the STG in cooperation with the Robert Schuman Centre. Over the course of two years, the project, in collaboration with other universities, think tanks and international organisations, analysed changes in patterns of interdependence in a range of policy areas and assessed the effectiveness of emerging global governance arrangements. Read the keynote speech Tharman Shanmugaratnam gave at the final conference on the Transformation of Global Governance project during his visit to the STG.