"The International Initiative will enable Stanford to continue making meaningful contributions to international problem solving, and no other university is better positioned to accelerate the teamwork that today's problems demand."

Coit D. Blacker and Elisabeth Paté-Cornell
Faculty leaders of the International Initiative

By virtue of the ideas we generate and the people we educate, the university plays a critical role in helping the global community address issues of peace and security, governance, and human well-being. Stanford has the opportunity to be the leading institution in the search for knowledge and solutions for these problems and in the education of future leaders equipped to deal with 21st century problems.

Theme: Pursuing Security in an Insecure World

Since the end of the Cold War, international security has become much more complex. Quantitatively, more countries have access to a wider range of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons. And for the first time in modern history, small groups of individuals may well acquire the capability to inflict catastrophic damage on even the strongest nations. Qualitatively, while terrorism is not new, its origins in cultural tensions - between modern societies, primarily of the west, and more traditional societies, such as those in the Middle East - represents a novel threat. Promoting security now means not only understanding physics and political science, but also incorporating insights gleaned from other disciplines, included but not limited to history, anthropology, sociology, psychology, religious studies, and the natural sciences.

Theme: Reforming and Improving Governance at All Levels of Society

In a second fundamental shift, governance at the local, regional, and international levels has reached a point of crisis. The nearly 200 nations of the world increasingly fall into one of two groups: those that work and those that don't. Failing states stymie economic growth, invite civil and ethnic conflict, and accelerate the spread of deadly diseases. At the same time, the United Nations, in the words of Kofi Annan, was "born in a very different time and designed for a very different world." Today, the efforts of international organizations to manage national and regional crises tend to address only the manifestations of state failure, rather than the causes. Promoting good governance at all levels of society and in all its forms will require both public and private actors to pursue a much more integrated blend of economic, political and legal strategies.

Theme: Advancing Human Well-Being

A third fundamental change affects the well-being of individuals. Transportation, communication, and economic markets now expose people in different countries to one another to an unprecedented degree. Even where governance is relatively strong, the spread of diseases like SARS, the movement of people fleeing wars or seeking work, and the influence of ideas like radical fundamentalism are proceeding faster and farther than ever before. The concept of self-contained nation-states, long the basis of international affairs, has given way to the reality of states that are more porous and interconnected. The well-being of individuals in any given country therefore impacts the well-being of individuals in others. International problem solving must simultaneously take into account overlapping issues in health, economics, and education.

A World of Change: The International Inititiative at Stanford

» View the online documentary: "A world of Change".

Chip Blacker appeared on the 25 December Forum (2008) program, speaking with KQED's Michael Krasny about the important work that The Stanford Challenge and the International Initiative are making possible. Listen.