If the globe needs a leader, Bill Clinton is volunteering.
The peripatetic U.S. ex-president is launching the "Clinton Global Initiative," an ambitious effort to harness the resources of global corporations and nongovernmental organizations, as well as governments, to attack some of the world's most intractable problems.
"I got the idea by going to Davos," Mr. Clinton said during an interview Wednesday in Baltimore — referring to the annual confab of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. "What I like about Davos is that it is an unprecedented opportunity for businesspeople to communicate with other businesspeople, with NGOs and with government leaders."
What Mr. Clinton doesn't like about Davos is that it's too much talk, too little action. (A notable exception occurred this year, when actress Sharon Stone leapt to her feet and pledged $10,000 to fight malaria in Tanzania, sparking a frenzy of pledges from enraptured participants. "That was cute," the former president says. "I liked that.")
Any gathering convened by Bill Clinton will certainly involve its share of talk. But he says the Global Initiative, which will meet Sept. 15-17 in New York City, is also going to demand action — in the form of specific commitments from those who attend.
"If you don't want to make a commitment," he says, "don't come. And if you don't follow through on the commitment, don't come back."
Will it work? Well, it could. Jimmy Carter has always said the greatest advantage of being an ex-president is that people return your phone calls. Bill Clinton has proved it goes further — they not only return your phone calls but also show up when you ask them to, and pay money for the privilege.
The Global Initiative will be funded by charging the companies that participate. Any funds left over after covering costs will go to the William J. Clinton Foundation, a nonprofit that pursues various global health, economic, political and social initiatives.
Critics, of which Mr. Clinton has plenty, are likely to see this as just another extension of the Hillary for President campaign. To head off those concerns, Mr. Clinton says he has enlisted the help of two high-profile Republicans who share his penchant for showmanship — News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
He says the Global Initiative plans to focus on just a few issues — four at each meeting — that have bipartisan support and that don't fall exclusively under the domain of governments. Among the possible topics: building up the "integrity and capacity" of developing-nation governments, addressing global energy and environmental problems, and attacking global health crises such as tuberculosis and HIV-AIDS.
The Clinton effort builds on two trends that, he believes, create new opportunities for addressing global problems in creative ways.
The first is the increased willingness of large corporations to get involved in addressing global social problems. Mr. Clinton says his experience in coordinating aid for tsunami victims, which he did with former President George H.W. Bush, has shown him "there is a role for philanthropic giving by business leaders, both as individuals and as businesses." More than that, there is also increased recognition by corporate leaders that in order to operate successfully on the global stage they need to get involved in addressing these sorts of issues, once thought to be the exclusive purview of governments.
Companies do it, Mr. Clinton says, "because they are part of a community, and it will help create goodwill," but also because, in the long run, "it's good for business."
The second trend is the rise of the NGOs — a development he calls one of the "two most remarkable things that have happened since the fall of the Berlin Wall." (The other: the spread of democracy.) In the past decade and a half, there has been an explosion of organizations, operating independently of governments and corporations, that have the resources and the savvy to be major players on the world stage. Mr. Clinton cites, in particular, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. But the list of such groups is getting longer, their leadership smarter, and their resources larger.
By bringing together companies and NGOs, Mr. Clinton hopes to assemble an effort that can rival that of any government — or of organizations like the United Nations. It is a grand scheme — one that befits the restless ambitions of the ex-president — but it isn't an unrealistic one.
A key question will be how much cooperation he gets from big business. Business leaders were happy to work with him when he reached out, as he often did, as president. They may be less willing now, given his continued immersion in partisan politics. But it is an interesting way to use the considerable powers of the ex-presidency.
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