CAN as a Backstop
As Thomas Hobbes observed in Leviathan, power aggregates. By concentrating the common wealth of a population, a nation-state can dominate places with smaller populations. This is the history of Europe since medieval times—and the logic behind the U.S. Department of War, the strategy of corporate mergers, and elected government in the U.S. and other democracies.
Today, we see this logic in commercial corporations, governments, military agencies, hospitals, financial institutions, trade associations, media systems, and billionaires whose economic power exceeds the wealth of many governments.
Leviathans coordinate when it serves mutual advantage. But unless regulated or aligned with sustainable principles, their commitment is self-serving. Even when the stability of society, the environment, or peace itself is at risk, their priorities remain internal: the Pentagon seeks military advantage, corporations seek market share, and religious organizations seek tithing souls.
Coordination around sustainable or humanitarian goals does not arise unless it coincidentally serves the organization’s mission.
That is the system working as designed.
This is why the major military powers retained veto power in the UN Security Council. It is also why the U.S. has refused, failed, or declined to ratify major international agreements involving children’s rights, women’s rights, economic and social rights, international criminal jurisdiction, the law of the sea, climate, landmines, nuclear weapons prohibition, nuclear test bans, and the International Court of Justice.
When international law is ignored, diplomacy becomes theater, and the world defaults to force.
When the U.S. withdrew from the Paris Climate Accord, the world could not compel compliance—only respond.
Coordinated Action Networks provide a backstop: not a world government, not a new Leviathan, but a way for communities, institutions, and grassroots initiative to make shared consequences visible, align around sustainable priorities, and coordinate action when dominant systems fail to do so.
CAN does not replace law or diplomacy.
It gives society a mechanism beneath them.
A civic backstop.
A way to keep coordination alive when power stops listening.
