More from Dan McGarry

Vire Dare Naure Jean Sese was director general of the prime minister's office in Vanuatu for years. I was only two weeks in-country when I first met him. If this is the calibre of the senior civil service, I told myself as I left, then Vanuatu has a lot going for it.

The Internet Governance Forum is a sprawling, unfocused event with disparate interests. It was designed to have no regulatory authority, no policy levers and indeed, no formal mandate to advocate even for issues about which the entire world is in screaming agreement. It can’t even publish findings. And that is its genius.