Our new global democracy will be phased in gradually, in order to help gain acceptance from today’s countries.
As a first phase, we can create a global democratic layer, operating as an umbrella above all countries, to grapple with the many issues countries can’t handle separately. Countries must grant authority over these matters to this global layer up front, by treaty. Otherwise the situation will be no different from what we have today (as discussed under “Argumentation / Effectiveness”).
Global matters requiring global solutions include climate change, taxation & redistribution of wealth, human rights including free movement of people, nuclear disarmament & demilitarization, extending education worldwide, and disease response.
Although this is a major political hurdle, it is both possible (as described in the next section below, “Can We Really Unify Separate Countries?”), and necessary.
Concurrently, complementing the global layer, the present-day trend of localities exercising an increasing share of power within ineffective countries will continue. A de facto system of subsidiarity will continue to emerge organically, with localities handling everything they can, the global democratic layer handling global matters, and countries initially retaining some power in between.
Over time, as the new global layer proves itself effective and the role of localities continues to grow, countries will lose relevance. Citizens who want problems solved will support shifting more power both upward to the global layer and downward to localities. Countries will gradually accede to growing public demand.
Eventually, countries will amount to little more than lines drawn on maps. Ultimately, these too will be erased in favor of self-determining clusters of people based either on authentic geography (rather than arbitrary straight lines) such as watersheds, or on shared interest groups, such as teachers, farm workers, technologists, or bicycle enthusiasts.
Although distinct cultures will survive, countries as political actors will fade from the picture, as humanity works together across the borders that divide us today, creating a better world for everyone.