Latest international Simpol News...
Jul. 18: Scilla Elworthy endorses Global Domestic Politics book

Scilla Elworthy, founder of the Oxford Research Group and long-time campaigner for nuclear disarmament and peace, has endorsed John Bunzl's new book, Global Domestic Politics - A citizen's guide to running a diverse planet. "I think it’s a terrific book," she said. "You are writing with great clarity and it makes all the difference that you bring in Spiral Dynamics and Integral thinking. This allows you to make such strong points about diverse values and non democratic nations. Until I read your clear analysis, I hadn’t realised just how much destructive international competition is central to governments’ problems".
Jun. 30: Simpol at Almedalen Week in Visby (Sweden)

Simpol's Swedish National Contact, Maria Ehrling, will represent Simpol at Almedalen Week (30th June - 7th July). Held in Visby on the island of Gotland, Almedalen Week is an annual event organised by the main Swedish political parties to engage the views of civil society on the key challenges we face.
June 24: McIntosh endorses Simpol
- Steve McIntosh
Author, Steve McIntosh, has endorsed Simpol: "I enthusiastically recommend the work of the International Simultaneous Policy Organization (SIMPOL). Innovative strategies to evolve politics and global governance are sorely needed in our increasingly globalized world, and SIMPOL offers a new and promising approach on the long road to democratic global law."
Steve is the author of Integral Consciousness and Evolution's Purpose. See his website here.
May 22: Bunzl reviews Ian Goldin's "Divided Nations"

A review of Prof. Ian Goldin's excellent book, Divided Nations - Why global governance is failing, and what we can do about it, is now available here. Written by Simpol's founder, John Bunzl, and appearing on the Huffington Post, the review strongly endorses Goldin's work and shows how Simpol potentially answers many of its questions about how international cooperation can be achieved.
May 23-26: Simpol at Men-Maenner International Symposium

Simpol's John Bunzl will be a speaker at the Men-Maenner International Symposium for men entitled "Men and the Future: Sex, Authenticity and Power" taking place near Frankfurt, Germany from 23-26th May, some tickets are still available.
What does it mean to be a man in the 21st Century? What challenges do we face, both in our personal lives, as fathers, and as we confront the global problems our world faces? Featuring top presenters and experts on men's issues, psychotherapy and gender relations, proceedings will be in both German and English. For more or to book, please visit the Men-Maenner website.
Apr. 26: Radermacher endorses Simpol

Dr. Franz-Joseph Radermacher, Head of the Forschungsinstitut für anwendungsorientierte Wissensverarbeitung/n (FAW/n), has endorsed the Simpol campaign. "Simpol," he said, "is an important initiative for combating major global challenges which depend on a deep systems-theoretical understanding both of current systems-theoretical challenges and potential solutions."
Simpol in "Compass of New Thought"

The Simpol campaign is mentioned prominently in The Compass of New Thought (Kompass Neues Denken), a new book by German philosopher, Nathalie Knapp.
"Simpol," Knapp says, "stands for an international politics of simultaneous action in which no country need fear becoming economically uncompetitive when implementing political decisions, such as a minimum wage or new environmental regulations. But Simpol also reminds us of the word "simple", because things become a great deal simpler if a certain synchronisation can be achieved when implementing decisions. It's important to understand, then, that when our planet is at stake, we are all playing on the same team."
The book, in German, can be obtained here.
Apr. 17: Huff Post: The Right mourn Thatcher; the Left, any sense of direction

Coinciding with the funeral of Baroness Thatcher on 17th April, the Huffington Post published this article by Simpol's founder, John Bunzl, reflecting on the legacy of the "divisive" former British Prime Minister, and what it means for those on the Left and for democracy itself.
Mar. 29: New Simpol book: Global Domestic Politics

Simpol's founder John Bunzl's new book Global Domestic Politics - A citizen's guide to running a diverse planet has just been published. How, it asks, can coherent governance be brought to our culturally and politically diverse planet? By taking a world-centric perspective on global problems and governance, John explains why Simpol is a unique and genuinely world-centric solution.
"This work," comments the prominent American philosopher Ken Wilber, "moves the global governance conversation forward considerably. John addresses the central issues concerning how global governance can be achieved even when only 5% of the global population is at Integral".
Available in hard copy or as a free e-reader download. More
Mar. 22: EnlightenNext Germany publishes Simpol article

The latest issue of Impulse, the magazine of leading German consciousness and culture movement, EnlightenNext, features an article on global consciousness by Simpol's John Bunzl. Entitled Global oder gar nicht: Warum Ihre Lebensmittelkosten steigen, wenn Sie zu klein denken, German speakers can read it here.
Mar. 20: Huff Post: Why global governance is key to world happiness

In a new article on the Huffington Post coinciding with the UN's Day of Happiness on 20th March, Simpol's founder John Bunzl explains the link between happiness and global governance. Can we truly be happy while so many of our fellow humans are suffering? And what do we need to change that? Read it here.
Mar. 13: First Luxembourg MP signs Simpol Pledge
- Dr. Jean Colombera MP
- Alfred Groff
Dr. Jean Colombera, a Member of the Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies, has become the first MP from that country to sign the Simpol Pledge. Dr. Colombera signed the Pledge on 13th March and represents the Nord constituency. He is also a physician.
Alfred Groff, Simpol's National Coordinator for Luxembourg, welcomed the news saying "We have only just started campaigning in Luxembourg. So Dr. Colombera's support for Simpol is a hopeful and encouraging sign for the campaign's future success."
Mar. 1: How do YOU want the world to be?

Simpol has partnered with Jolitics to provide citizens around the world with an online tool for developing global policies. Fun and easy to use, anyone anywhere can join in. Offered as a supplement to Simpol's formal policy development process, this is a great way for citizens to exchange ideas, develop policies and vote on them.
Jan. 30: Economist David K. Levine endorses Simpol

Game theory specialist, David K. Levine, John H. Biggs Distinguished Professor of Economics at Washington University, St. Louis, USA, has endorsed the Simpol campaign. Impressed by John Bunzl's recent TEDx presentation, The Political Prisoner's Dilemma, read Prof. Levine's endorsement here.
IEET publishes article on Simpol

The U.S.-based Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET) has published a new article by John Bunzl entitled "Why international competitiveness trumps ethics and accountability". How does the drive to enhance national economic competitiveness often trump the ethical and accountable introduction of new, controversial technologies. And what can be done about it? Read it here.
James J. Hughes Ph.D., Executive Director of IEET, commented that "Simpol does get at the nub of the problem; the prisoner's dilemma that stymies individual nations from enacting policies."
Jan. 8: Why thinking too small increases your food bill

Top blog, the Huffington Post, today published an article by Simpol's John Bunzl asking why we still look for merely national solutions to global problems. With food prices set to rise due to poor harvests caused by global warming and other global problems impacting our daily lives, what might the cost be of thinking too small? Read it here.
Recent News Highlights
Oct. 9 2012: Simpol short-listed for Global+5 award
- Former Prime Minister of Greece, George Papandreou (left) with Karin Hagemann of KPMG (centre) and John Bunzl of Simpol. [Photo: Tom Bunzl]
"Which innovative projects and ideas could have the biggest global impact 5 years from now?" That's the challenge of the Global+5 awards organised by The Global Journal, a magazine specialising in global governance issues. Simpol was among 21 short-listed projects judged by a jury including former Prime Minister of Greece, George Papandreou, Pascal Lamy, Director General of the WTO, and David Held of Durham University.
Unfortunately, neither Simpol nor any other global governance proposals were selected for an award as the judges seemed to prefer humanitarian or scientific projects. But both George Papandreou and another judge, Karin Hagemann, a top management consultant with KPMG, both personally felt Simpol offered a very innovative solution to the central dilemma facing today's politicians: the impossible task of reconciling democracy and social and economic justice with the need to keep their national economies internationally competitive.
Sep. 7 2012: Ken Wilber dialogues with John Bunzl on IntegralLife

Ken Wilber, founder of Integral Theory, and John Bunzl dialogue about global governance and how Simpol may be key in achieving it. Available in several parts, the dialogue can be heard here. It is based on a new article by John to appear shortly in the Journal of Integral Theory & Practice entitled Transcending 1st-Tier Values in Achieving Binding Democratic Global Governance. Wilber has described Simpol as "a 2nd-tier political practice that makes a great deal of sense, and is certainly worth backing" and is a member of Simpol's Advisory Board.
News Archive
For earlier items of news, please visit the News Archive.