The Future of Multilateralism.

 

Multilateralism and the global issues that it acts as a tool to solve have continued to change and evolve towards becoming more visible and relevant to people across the world. The League of Nations brought much of what had been backroom Multilateral diplomacy into the open with accessible discussions, and multilateralism has become only more open since then with the UN opening a window into its processes through streaming discussions and decision making. Part of this has been the UN’s 75th anniversary initiative to understand the issues and priorities of its ultimate stakeholders, the people of the world. This came through a combination of over a million online survey results, and in-depth discussions. Across the world, people identified climate change as the most overwhelming long-term issue to be dealt with, closely followed by healthcare, human rights, and conflict resolution. The challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of an international problem-solving approach, with 87% seeing international cooperation as essential. While The history of multilateralism is irrevocably bound together with cooperation between states, it is likely that multilateralism will continue to move towards cooperation with new players. The country-based tools that were the foundation of multilateralism have in the past decades been complemented and supported by the work of civil society groups, private companies, and local governments in finding solutions for problems that are no longer country based. In development through the Sustainable Development Goals and in conflict reduction through inclusive peace processes, the UN has integrated this multi-actor approach to collective responses and is likely to continue to act as a hub for global cooperation networks. An effective multilateral platform remains indeed essential to address local and global challenges that only appear to grow in scale and complexity