Clash of cultures or world economy?

Fascinating article by David Brooks (New York Times) on the theologian John Mcmurray’s influence on Tony Blair.

There’s a quote from Blair “Globalisation begets interdependence, and interdependence begets the necessity of a common value system to make it work” and later “We are witnessing the beginnings of a new doctrine of international community”. While economic globalisation is mature, the politics are not. What is needed are multilateral institutions to act in pursuit of global values.

This ‘international interdependence leading to world community’ view prompted thinking at the local community and organisational level. As far as politics go, this view suggest there is a need for collaborative institutions between Federal and State governments in Australia.

In a policy sense there are indicators of advancing multilateral collaboration such as the inter-governmental work on anti-spam. The driver is again global with the internet being an international network of networks. Jurisdictions are realising they share recurring internet security and privacy issues. What’s more, the creative and innovative thinking behind e-security initiatives are attributable to informal networking.

At the organisational level, a similar ‘clash between cultures’ occurs. Divisions internally are barriers to whole-of-organisation, or multiple line area collaboration. The resolution of these problems is to have informal networking foster coalitions of understanding and self-help on mutual interests.