G-Plus Governance for a Multiplex World

The concept of G-Plus governance describes the increasingly pluralistic, hybrid and decentered nature of global governance. G-Plus means “Governments Plus”. It reflects changes such as the proliferation of non-governmental actors, including NGOs, social movements, corporations, and various forms of partnership between governments and private entities, in global governance. Global governance is not the monopoly of inter-governmental organizations. On the other hand, G-Plus governance in most cases complements, rather than supplants, the role of governments in international cooperation. It challenges the familiar notions of “multipolarity”, “unipolarity” or “G-zero”, as well as the tendency to think of global leadership in terms of exclusive power groups such as G-2 (US-China), G-7, and G-20. The role of new actors and configurations in G-Plus governance is leading to what could be termed a Multiplex World Order and new ways of organizing cooperation in areas such as poverty alleviation, climate change, global health, social media, and conflict management.