Multilateralism is under threat, write several experts. The evil began under Donald Trump, a great critic of international organizations, and continues with the inability of the international community to stop Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
For these specialists, all the international consultation mechanisms are seized up and can no longer fulfill their mandate. The fragmentation of the world and the fierce competition between the great powers add to the disruption and weaken an international order based on rules and consultation.
I’m not that pessimistic. To paraphrase the American writer Mark Twain, the announcement of the death of multilateralism seems to me quite premature.
Multilateralism became a daily reality more than 150 years ago when states decided to cooperate and create organizations to orchestrate their interactions. It has always been renewed over the crises and political developments. Each time, multilateralism has regained a new dynamism.
This year, the Montreal conference on biodiversity (COP15), the daily work of the United Nations (UN) Security Council and the last meeting of the G20 clearly illustrate the vigor of multilateralism at a time when international tensions suggest its crumbling.
COP15 seemed to be off to a bad start before it even started. An agreement seemed unlikely as the interests of each party diverged. In particular, there was a gap between the North and the South on the financing of programs for the protection of biodiversity. Then, with the conference moving from China to Montreal, observers expected a difficult working atmosphere between Beijing and Ottawa given the poor relations between the two countries.
The doomsayers were wrong. The Chinese presidency showed great openness in reconciling diverging points of view and succeeded in having the 195 countries present adopt an ambitious agreement aimed at halting the decline of biodiversity by 2030.
China and Canada, the latter represented by Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, worked hand in hand to the point where a Chinese delegate warmly thanked the Canadian minister. Mr. Guilbeault underlined how he and his Chinese counterpart used their contacts to arrive at the conclusion of the agreement.
This conference enabled the international community to regain its unity despite the divisions observed after the Russian aggression against Ukraine. At the United Nations, in fact, the members of the General Assembly and the Security Council were not unanimous in condemning Moscow’s intervention and some feared a paralysis of these important organs of multilateralism on other folders. It did not happen.
A few days ago, the Council adopted a resolution condemning the military junta in Burma and calling for the release of political prisoners, including ousted President Aung San Suu Kyi. China and Russia refused to come to the aid of their Burmese allies and abstained, a first.
On other fronts, the cooperation between the 15 members of the Council has been exemplary. Mandates for peace operations were renewed, and a resolution imposing a sanctions regime on Haiti, including a targeted asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo, was passed unanimously.
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, in Montreal for COP15 last December
For his part, the head of the UN, António Guterres, has shown that he can be both “secretary” and “general” by steering with subtlety and firmness negotiations between Ukraine, Russia and Turkey, allowing the resumption of grain exports from Ukrainian ports to the rest of the world.
Finally, the fact that the G20 summit was held as planned in Indonesia and resulted in consensus on several international issues is to the credit of the diplomatic efforts of many countries and reveals an unexpected resilience on the part of this heterogeneous forum. of dialogue and consultation.
Multilateralism, whose current foundations were established after the Second World War, is however attacked by those for whom unilateralism is preferable and by those who wish to change certain rules. It is therefore obvious that it must adapt, in order to take into account new global geopolitical configurations, and the aspirations of emerging powers and regional blocs.
Nevertheless, whatever its forms and future developments, multilateralism is at the heart of our international life, because it rests on a solid foundation of treaties and organizations whose usefulness is revealed every day. It dwells in us, so to speak, because we always think in its terms.
The periods when it declines worry us, but a deep motivation constantly leads us to resort to it and to put it back in the saddle as the questions have become global and require common answers.
* Jocelyn Coulon will publish in February My France. Portraits and other considerations (Editions La Presse).