A Study Of Middle Power Leadership In Global Governance

Globalization has brought about a large number of global issues while it increasesthe world-wide wealth. Almost every country is faced with the global issues whichdemands global cooperation among nations. As what it indicates literally, globalgovernance is to provide international public good which used to be offered by greatpowers. With national power descending, great power is becoming increasinglyunwilling or unable to provide international public good. Rising globality features in thedevelopment of globalization. Subsequently, there is a great demand of globalgovernance. Global governance has become the most obvious feature of internationalaffairs management in this globalizing age.Though non-state actors, such as international organizations, multinationalcorporations and global citizen networks, middle power has played an increasinglyimportant role in global governance, sovereign states are still the most and important andirreplaceable actors in global governance. Due to the impressing popularity of powerpolitics in international affairs, global governance has once been understood asgovernance among great powers. As a result, great power’s influence has beenoverestimated while middle powers’ contribution has been underestimated. In fact,middle power as leader has promoted global governance of some specific global issueswhich great powers did not support, or were against. They were finally able to spreadrelevant international norms by setting the issues, and forcing great power to withdrawfrom their original position and gradually accepting the norms and institutions that aimedto solve the targeted global issues.Middle power plays a leading role through setting the agenda for a specific globalissue. At a certain time, the amount of resources available for global governance islimited; it means that the agenda capacity is limited similarly. Thus when some issues arelisted on the agenda, some other issues will be excluded from the problem-solving list.Agenda setting is regarded as the second face of power, and agenda setting ability is a vital part of soft power. Therefore, the agenda-setting ability determines which issue willbe considered and listed on the to-be solved menu, and which issue will be excludedfrom the agenda.Global agenda setting refers to the process in which agenda setting actors set an issueto be a global issue closely to his interests and attract the attention of actors related. Inorder to achieve this, to build issue coalition is of great importance. The key to successfulglobal agenda setting lies in the appropriate choice of issue’s attribute on basis of whichto frame and amplify the attribute is vital. The increase of issue’s significance andrelevance will help to sett the agenda successfully.Because middle power does not have dominant power, it is careful about selectingissue and adopting strategies. Generally, middle power defined itself to the issues such asenvironment protection, human rights, health and cares. These issues are universallyrecognized and accepted. Middle power often establishes issue coalition throughdowning on the strength of international organizations, non-organizations andtransnational advocacy networks. By allying with issue coalition, middle power has thecapacity of setting global agenda in some specific issue fields against the dominance ofgreat power.Landmines, especially anti-personnel mines, are indiscriminate attacks againstmilitary and non-military targets which lead to growing humanitarian disaster. In the1970s, ICRC made an initiative that use, production and production and diffusion minesshould be banned. ICRC managed to set mine issue as humanitarian issue. Mine issue waslisted on the agenda of global governance. Partly because of lack of political authority,and insufficiencies of enlargement of humanitarian attribute mine issue, landmine issuewas finally constructed as one of Disarmament and discussed as an issue in Geneva armscontrol Conference. As a result of the conference, CCW was achieved and signed. It wasthe first stage that Landmines mine was governed globally. CCW set some limitation onthe use of mines, production, and proliferation of landmine. The landmine issue wasgoverned in certain limited term.In the1990s, the ICBL began to rise, and is committed to achieve a ban onlandmines. As a leading middle power, Canada showed its significant leadership on thisissue setting. Through establishing a coalition which is made up with core countries NGO,other relevant agenda-setting actors, Canada successfully framed the humanitarian attributes of the mine ban issue, successfully set the agenda of prohibiting landmine infull sense. Thereafter Canada initiated a negotiation of an international protocol to banlandmine (Ottawa process).Through carefully-chosen niche issues, and framing and strengthening one attribute ofissues, middle power is more likely to set a global agenda for governance. When nationalpower is given at a certain time and space, it helps middle power to play a leading role inglobal governance by actively setting the global agenda. In this sense, agenda-settingability is a kind of soft power. The strategies used by Canada as middle power in settingglobal governance agenda provide china examples on how to make use of agenda setting tovoice its own interests in global affairs while committing international responsibilities.