Looking ahead, the new reality will also be characterized by growing resource scarcity, and this will have serious implications on energy, food and water security. The traditional borders between business and government will continue to erode because neither governments nor civil society alone can confront the complexity of global challenges that we face.

All these dimensions of the new reality require first and foremost a common approach: Basic values and shared norms should be turned into positive forces driving our future. It also requires a new sense of "global togetherness".

This is why we will focus on shared norms for the new reality as the theme at this year's Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Norms are vital for providing fundamental guidance to decision makers who operate in this new reality, which still lacks an effective formal and globalized legal infrastructure.

They also provide the compass that can guide the decision-making of leaders and help ensure inclusive rather than exclusive outcomes. Without such shared norms, our efforts of reforming global systems will lack direction and, in the worst case, prove to be ineffective. Shared norms will also help define a common vision for the future that we want to create.

International cooperation is everybody's business now. More than ever, the new reality underscores the need to create new bonds rather than new boundaries. We need new partnerships and alliances between public, private and civic life to tackle the problems that lie ahead.

We are more likely to succeed in managing global challenges if we take a practical, multifaceted approach, focusing at least as much on the "how" as the "what". It will force us to set aside our immediate short-term interests and take the long-term global public interest to heart.

This may prove to be difficult. But one thing is certain: We cannot keep doing the same old thing in a new era that requires new responses.

The author is founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum.