Fully-automated liberalism? Blockchain technology and international cooperation in an anarchic world

Abstract

A recent wave of scholarship attests that the liberal world order is under threat. Although there is disagreement about the underlying reasons for this diagnosis, there are few attempts to further our understanding of how the liberal order can be reinvigorated. This paper probes the potential of blockchain technology to promote international cooperation. Blockchain technology is a data structure that enables global governance stakeholders to establish decentralized governance systems which provide high-powered incentives for enhanced cooperation. By outlining the contours of a blockchain-based global governance system for climate policy, the paper illustrates that blockchain technology holds theoretical promise to foster cooperation in three ways: leveraging new sources of information through blockchain-based prediction markets; allaying coordinating problems through reducing the cost of transactions for side payments; and allowing states and other global governance actors to make more credible commitments given guaranteed execution of blockchain-enabled smart contracts. By empowering local knowledge holders and non-state actors that traditionally lacked the means to coordinate efforts to influence global politics, blockchain technology also promises to advance an international order based on liberal values. In actuality, however, emerging blockchain-based global governance systems will fall short of the libertarian ideal of ‘fully-automated liberalism’ as their design and operation will remain under the shadow of power.

Do Multilateral Development Bank Trust Funds Allocate Climate Finance Efficiently?

“…However, relatively scant attention has been given to the emergent ecosystem of climate finance facilities that support it. Mirroring the complexity of the climate governance regime complex [1][2][3][4], the international climate finance architecture is complex and includes several funding channels, such as bi-and multilateral aid, bi-and multilateral finance channeled through multilateral trust funds, private finance through international market mechanisms, and hybrid forms of those [5][6][7].…”

Role of Leadership in Adoption of Blockchain Technology in Small and Medium Enterprises in Saudi Arabia

“…Blockchain is no longer just Bitcoin. With the rapid development of enterprise-level solutions, we have witnessed a proliferation of blockchain use cases in the banking industry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ( Reinsberg, 2021 ).…”

Uncertainty and dispute resolution for blockchain and smart contract institutions

“…‘Smart contracts’ (in their current popular manifestation) operate within the context of blockchain technology. A blockchain is a form of distributed ledger which uses consensus algorithms to ensure that information placed on it has not been altered (Zachariadis et al ., 2019), and transparency of ledger content, to assist in instilling trust in otherwise weakly institutionalized environments (Reinsberg, 2020). They were designed initially to settle the transfer of property rights in an underlying digital token (e.g.…”

“…Significant advantages claimed for smart contract use include guaranteed performance due to the impossibility of legal intervention, the ability to bypass the need for costly legal advice, and other transaction cost savings (Tjong Tjin Tai, 2018). If smart contracts can reduce the costs of performance verification and enforcement – especially across international borders, where court jurisdiction is limited, or where one or both parties lack access to reasonably well-functioning courts or other arbitration processes – then they may feasibly lead to more efficient institutional arrangements (Gans, 2019; Reinsberg, 2019, 2020; Varian, 2010).…”