12:32 p.m., Jan. 21, 2009----A new global governance portal has been launched by the University of Delaware's Department of Political Science and International Relations.

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The research-oriented Web site offers a bibliography of key books and journals and a listing with links to global governance-oriented academic programs and research centers.

Also featured are a thematically organized research center to highlight key themes and timely issues and debates.

“The global governance portal grew out of a series of discussions among political science and international relations faculty about the perceived need to tap into a growing community of scholars concerned with global governance or the management and regulation of transnational issues,” Gretchen Bauer, professor and chairperson of the Department of Political Science and International Relations, said. “In addition, the portal aims to showcase the political science and international relations graduate program in global governance, one of the few in the world organized around the theme."

Matthew Weinert, assistant professor of political science and international relations, said the site is designed to be a center for information that people may use as a starting point for pertinent issues related to global governance.

“The University of Delaware has one of the few graduate programs in the world that is organized around the theme of global governance, and we aim to capitalize on that fact,” Weinert said. “The global governance portal is one mechanism designed to publicize our global program in particular, and the broader phenomena of global governance initiatives, institutions and processes in general.”

Research topics currently featured on the portal include the Responsibility Project, the Genocide Intervention Network, and the Global Center on the Responsibility to Protect.

While the portal will initially act as a center for information, Weinert said a further goal is for people to post comments, open dialogues and share ideas and research.

“In this spirit, we envision the development of a working paper exchange,” Weinert said. “Perhaps a theme would be established each quarter and scholars could post papers for comment about global governance and the United Nations global health issues.”

While a long-term goal would be the development of an online peer-reviewed journal, an interim goal would be the encouragement of posting brief reviews of the latest publication in global governance, Weinert said.

“As a possible example, our graduate classes might include a component requiring students to post a book review on the portal,” Weinert said. “This would encourage development of the portal as a forum for the exchange of ideas and the longer term goal of an online journal.”

Article by Jerry Rhodes