Rising geopolitical risks have been underscored by today's multiple global crises — from a severe global credit crunch and financial tumult to serious energy and food challenges.
Add to that the international failure to stem the spreading scourge of terrorism and the specter of a renewed Cold War arising from the deterioration in relations between the West and Russia since Moscow's August retaliatory military intervention in Georgia and subsequent recognition of the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia — actions that some portray as the 21st century's first forcible changing of borders.
The world clearly is at a turning point, underscored by the ongoing tectonic shifts in political and economic power. Tinkering won't help because the global crises cry out for fundamental changes in international rules and institutions.