Designing Global Self-governance for the Future

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Produced in celebration of the United Nations International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures (2010) and the
ever increasing development, manufacture and sale of arms by Permanent Members of the UN Security Council
following the UN Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations (2001)

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Introduction

This is the development of the argument in an introductory paper (Tao of Engagement -- Weaponised Interactions and Beyond: Fibonacci's magic carpet of games to be played for sustainable global governance, 2010). It continues the exploration of the possibility of providing a common framework for the huge global investment in weaponry -- and the binary logic associated with its use -- in relation to a variety of other more complex games and non-weaponised modes of interaction. The specific focus is on interrelating the associated "Western" and "Eastern" patterns of interaction and engagement with various existential challenges of "otherness" -- with or without metaphorical implications, whether manifesting as games or not. This emphasis follows from the case made in an earlier exploration (Enhancing the Quality of Knowing through Integration of East-West metaphors, 2000).

The argument developed here is that governance, and the strategic challenge of any integrative approach, is essentially a design challenge -- variously taking into consideration geometric constraints and possibilities, mnemotechnical issues, and the aesthetics conducive to psychoactive engagement, credibility and communication. Of specific importance is the use of design to enable and enhance comprehension of greater degrees of complexity and subtlety -- embodying and interrelating the greatest diversity of cultural associations.

The prevailing fragmented approach, reinforced by the variety of disciplines and belief systems, has been widely recognized as undermining any coherent, integrative approach. In a political world governed by image, rather than rationality -- and in the absence of any inspiring global epic -- the challenge may be fruitfully considered as one of portraying a memorable, succinct narrative respectful, to the extent possible, of formal considerations.

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