This book explores the challenges that multilateralism faces today and questions the idea of a ‘crisis’ of multilateral cooperation and international organizations. It accounts for the pressures on and power shifts in multilateralism in recent years - such as the war in Syria, the Covid-19 pandemic, challenges for NATO, the erosion of multilateral norms, the transition from Trump to Biden, the rise of China, the post-Brexit European Union, and the mobilization of countries from the South. The authors illustrate the resilience of multilateralism and lessons learned from the WTO, UN Women, International Organizations’ Secretariats and global environmental governance. Written in part by members of the Research Group on Multilateral Action (GRAM), this volume argues that ‘crisis’ should not be considered a pathology but the ‘matrix’ of multilateralism, which is more resilient than commonly thought. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of International Relations, global governance, and international organizations.

In recent years, the effects of economic openness and technological change have fuelled dissatisfaction with established political systems and led to new forms of political populism that exploit the economic and political resentment created by globalization. This shift in politics was evident in the decision by UK voters to leave the European Union in June 2016, the November 2016 election of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States, as well as the rise of populist movements on left and right throughout much of Europe. To many voters, the economy appears to be broken. Conventional politics is failing. Parties of the left and centre-left have struggled to forge a convincing response to this new phase of globalization in the aftermath of the 2008 crisis. This book examines the challenges that the new era of globalization poses for progressive parties and movements across the world. It brings together leading thinkers and experts including Andrew Gamble, Jeffry Frieden and Vivien Schmidt to debate the structural causes and political consequences of this new wave of globalization.

This completely revised and rewritten handbook gives an overview of international organization (IO) as a dynamic field of research that adds to our understanding of global and regional relations and related domestic politics. Bringing together international scholars from a range of disciplines, it considers both IO as a process and multilateral organizations as institutions. This handbook is divided into five parts: I. Documentation, sources and perspectives II. International secretariats as bureaucracies III. Actors within and beyond international bureaucracies IV. Processes within and beyond international bureaucracies V. Challenges to international organizations Containing new chapters on topics such as the anthropological perspective, IO secretariats in several continents outside of Europe, feminization, the digital turn and challenges to IO legitimacy, the contributors reflect on the progression of IO studies from a burgeoning field to a well‐established subfield of international relations and the move away from scholarship based mainly in North‐Western Europe and the United States. This book will be of particular interest to scholars and students of IOs, global governance, diplomacy and foreign policy, as well as practitioners of multilateral cooperation.

How to better manage systemic risks—from cyber attacks and pandemics to financial crises and climate change—in a globalized world The Butterfly Defect addresses the widening gap between the new systemic risks generated by globalization and their effective management. It shows how the dynamics of turbo-charged globalization has the potential and power to destabilize our societies. Drawing on the latest insights from a wide variety of disciplines, Ian Goldin and Mike Mariathasan provide practical guidance for how governments, businesses, and individuals can better manage globalization and risk. Goldin and Mariathasan demonstrate that systemic risk issues are now endemic everywhere—in supply chains, pandemics, infrastructure, ecology and climate change, economics, and politics. Unless we address these concerns, they will lead to greater protectionism, xenophobia, nationalism, and, inevitably, deglobalization, rising inequality, conflict, and slower growth. The Butterfly Defect shows that mitigating uncertainty and risk in an interconnected world is an essential task for our future.

"The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic marks the most significant, singular global disruption since World War II, with health, economic, political, and security implications that will ripple for years to come." -Global Trends 2040 (2021) Global Trends 2040-A More Contested World (2021), released by the US National Intelligence Council, is the latest report in its series of reports starting in 1997 about megatrends and the world's future. This report, strongly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, paints a bleak picture of the future and describes a contested, fragmented and turbulent world. It specifically discusses the four main trends that will shape tomorrow's world: - Demographics-by 2040, 1.4 billion people will be added mostly in Africa and South Asia. - Economics-increased government debt and concentrated economic power will escalate problems for the poor and middleclass. - Climate-a hotter world will increase water, food, and health insecurity. - Technology-the emergence of new technologies could both solve and cause problems for human life. Students of trends, policymakers, entrepreneurs, academics, journalists and anyone eager for a glimpse into the next decades, will find this report, with colored graphs, essential reading.

Identifies the major weaknesses in the current United Nations system and proposes fundamental reforms to address each. This title is also available as Open Access.

This volume focuses on multilateralism in the 21st century and examines how, and how effectively, the EU delivers on its commitment to effective multilateralism. Presenting results generated by MERCURY, an EU research programme into multilateralism, this book addresses a central research question: does the EU deliver on its commitment to effective multilateralism? Globalisation has created powerful new incentives for states to cooperate and has generated renewed interest in multilateralism. While a large body of work exists on multilateralism as a concept, it continues to be ill-defined and poorly understood. This book sheds new light on 21st century multilateralism by exploring conceptual approaches as well as generating innovative, empirical knowledge on its practice. Research on EU external relations has increasingly focused on the concept of ‘effective multilateralism’. Yet, the application of this concept as a guiding principle of EU foreign policy in non-security policy areas has rarely been examined. This book explores whether the EU is pursuing effective multilateralism in specific policy areas, including trade, climate change and conflict resolution, and distinct geographical and institutional settings, both internal to the EU and in specified regions, international organisations (IOs) and bilateral partnerships. This book offers evidence-based, actionable policy lessons from Europe’s experience in promoting multilateralism. The European Union and Multilateralism in the 21st Century will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, international organizations, and European Union politics and foreign policy.

The devastating impacts of coronavirus (COVID-19) on developing countries have tested the limits, ingenuity and flexibility of development co-operation while also uncovering best practices. This 58th edition of the Development Co-operation Report draws out early insights from leaders, OECD members, experts and civil society on the implications of coronavirus (COVID-19) for global solidarity and international co-operation for development in 2021 and beyond.

Multilateralism has long been a study of contrasts. Nationalist impulses, diverging and shifting goals, and a lack of enforcement methods have plagued the international organizations that facilitate multilateralism. Yet the desire to seek peace, reduce poverty, and promote the global health of people and the planet pushes states to work together. These challenges, across time and the globe, have brought about striking, yet diverging, results. Here, Kathryn Lavelle offers a history of multilateralism from its origins in the nineteenth century to the present. Lavelle focuses on the creation and evolution of major problem-solving organizations, examines the governmental challenges they have confronted and continue to face from both domestic and transnational constituencies, and considers how non-governmental organizations facilitate their work. Comprehensive, accessible, and narrative-driven, The Challenges of Multilateralism should appeal to students with interests in global development, public health, trade, international finance, humanitarian law, and security studies.