Global Governance in World Politics

Since the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki one of the foremost global concerns has been the peaceful use and control over atomic energy and nuclear power. When the US dropped nuclear bombs on Japan in 1945 approximately 70,000–80,000 people were killed immediately and another 70,000 were injured. These two atomic bombings resulted in calling global attention to the misuse of atomic energy and as a result, denuclearization and non-nuclear proliferation eventually gained importance in world politics. Ultimately we have seen the emergence of the concept of global governance. Since the beginning of the Cold War, “global governance” (GG) has played a major role in world politics and GG is particularly important in the new millennium as the world faces threats to global security, pandemics, and a growing oil crisis. Consequently, new actors have been created to deal with growing global problems, such as transnational organizations, and international government organizations (IGOs). Many of these organizations have proved effective in resolving global matters but on occasion they have failed to do so. Three important international relation theories have helped GG theorists obtain better insight on the term global governance by initiating different approaches towards the subject. These IR theories have conducted distinct analytical methods in managing global problems such as environmental issues, financial crises or global health issues. For the purpose of using nuclear/atomic energy for peaceful causes and non military motives the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was established in 1957 within the United Nations family. The IAEA has been a significant example of global governance and as of December 2009 it had 151 Member States. The organization was designed to create confidence about peaceful nuclear activities within member nation-states that had already acquired nuclear weapons and to reduce the proliferation of nuclear weapons in non-nuclear