Revising the vows: post-pandemic multilateralism

During a debate entitled ‘Revising the vows: post-pandemic multilateralism’, hosted by Friends of Europe on 24 February, speakers agreed that there is no other alternative to the multilateral system.

“I still think multilateralism works, and if it doesn’t, we need to make it work,” said Christina Kokkinakis, Director for Values and Multilateral Relations and Deputy Managing Director Global at the European External Action Service (EEAS).

Taking place on the very day when Russia invaded Ukraine, she said the word for her which sums up the current situation is “hopelessness”.

“The international community could not prevent a crisis, and we were not able to prevent the point of no return,” she lamented, adding that this played into the narrative of failure at the multilateral level.

She said she envisaged possible violations of international law because there is now a state of war.

“When we talk about violations of human rights, we talk about violations of law,” she explained.  “They apply to everyone, everywhere, without any distinction between countries. There is no justification for degrading or exploiting human beings. Human rights are not about right or left, it’s about right or wrong.”

“The EU cannot do multilateralism alone; you need two to tango,” she emphasised. “We can only promote human rights and multilateralism together with others, such as the African Union and the Arab League.”

“A number of people were blaming the UN Security Council for being useless and toothless,” said Mohamed Zeeshan, Editor-in-Chief of Freedom Gazette, “but this is the fault of the member states. If they can’t come to a consensus, they can’t act. That’s the nature of multilateralism.”

He went on to describe how there is a debate today over global norms and laws, as well as a battle for values in international politics, which could undermine the future of multilateralism and the effectiveness of institutions.

He described this as being a “multi-polar era” in which Russia and China are “reinstating the order of anarchy, or ‘might is right’”.

With the West now not the force it used to be, and even India beginning to “take a backseat” when it comes to multilateralism, the need to “build a global consensus has become more pressing”, he concluded.

“What drives the failure of multilateralism is not recognising the interests that drive multilateralism,” stated Rosebell Kagumire, pan-African feminist writer and media specialist. She said how “competing empires” are often present in countries in Africa and that this brings to mind colonialism.

“Young people wonder: what’s the purpose of an election if a candidate is being backed by different interests?” she said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s from the United States or China. At the end of the day, does it serve our aspiration to be self-determining? That’s what matters.”

“Multilateralism is a classic interest-driven activity wrapped in a democratic cloak,” said Colonel Michael Ryan, former deputy assistant secretary of defence for European and NATO policy at the United States Department of Defense.

“We have multilateral approaches when our own elements of power are insufficient,” he explained, adding that the US prefers to work through multilateral organisations because it is in their interests, but that this is not true for everyone. The problem comes when heads of state and government are influenced by domestic concerns.

Colonel Ryan criticised the “failure of imagination and suspension of belief” within multilateral organisations and said they should become more forward-looking and future-proofed.

“If we don’t achieve our collective interests, our national interests will be forfeit,” he said and advocated for strengthening the core of free and market-oriented nations across the world.