Dynamics undermining international stability and how to rebuild trust.

 

The erosion of these dynamics are undermining key foundations of international stability:

• Multilateralism and international law, including humanitarian law
• Democratic institutions, civil liberties, gender equality and human rights
• Migration, multiculturalism and social cohesion
• Global public goods, including sustainable development, climate and health
• Economic stability, trade, and conflict prevention
• Public and private solidarity through aid and philanthropy

Without clear explanations of why these systems matter in everyday life, their erosion becomes predictable, especially amid coordinated disinformation designed to delegitimize them. Yet, this future is not inevitable.


There is an antidote to fear-based politics rooted in disinformation: rebuilding public trust in international cooperation by reconnecting people with what collective action makes possible and acknowledging public fears while offering clear evidence of how cooperation addresses shared challenges. It must also show what is at stake: the fragmentation, economic disruption, conflict and human suffering that follow when it collapses.


For decades, public outreach has been dismissed as “spin” rather than recognized as a pillar of legitimacy, trust, and accountability – leaving a vacuum others have exploited. Many norms and standards underpinning cooperation are so embedded in everyday systems that their benefits go largely unnoticed.


Yet they quietly sustain daily life: aviation standards prevent collisions; regulatory cooperation keeps medicines safe; global telecoms standards allow phones to function; humanitarian law enables aid to reach civilians; and democratic norms reinforce peaceful elections and accountability.


These systems become visible when they fail – when flights are grounded, supply chains collapse, conflicts escalate, or democratic norms erode.