Redefining Multilateralism in a New Geopolitical Era

The Context

Multilateralism is facing many challenges, such as revived great power competition, violations of international law, political divisions and the apparent failure of global multilateral institutions. Scholars and policymakers are increasingly concerned about the long-term viability of global multilateral institutions, the prospects for productive international cooperation, and the future of multilateral diplomacy (at least in the way it has been practised since the end of the Second World War).

Yet, the role of multilateralism and the prospects of adapting multilateral diplomacy and negotiation processes to the new realities and challenges of our geopolitical age remain largely unexplored. The project Redefining Multilateralism in a New Geopolitical Era aims to fill this gap.

 

Partners

The Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) is home to the Processes of International Negotiation (PIN) program, a network of integrated negotiation academics and practitioners, in partnership with the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy (AGDA). After a first joint conference in Abu Dhabi in 2023 on identity in negotiations, the three institutions have joined forces again around the project Redefining Multilateralism in a New Geopolitical Era.

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Aim

The conference will consist of an in-depth review and analysis of multilateralism focusing on current diplomatic and negotiation challenges in different institutional settings. It will explore potential innovations in governance and negotiation strategies aimed at tackling these challenges. It will address the processes, outcomes, challenges and potential avenues for innovation in multilateral negotiations through review, comparison and sharing among experts from various sectoral multilateral settings.

The thematic scope of the conference will be broad, encompassing expertise on multilateral negotiation processes in: international trade; global health; environment and climate change;  human rights; technology; arms control.

Expert discussions will revolve around three main issues:

  • Strategies and mechanisms to effectively involve great powers in new and existing multilateral initiatives while considering the impact of emerging and shifting coalitions on multilateral negotiations;
  • Strategies for overcoming impasses and deadlocks in multilateral negotiations;
  • Evolving roles of middle and small powers, civil society, marginalized groups and other non-state actors in multilateral negotiation processes.

The three main overall objectives of the conference will be:

  1. Gaining a cross-cutting perspectives of current negotiations processes, outcomes and challenges;
  2. Learning best practices and solutions from one process to another;
  3. Identifying innovative and actionable technics and mechanisms to advance multilateralism.

 

Conference

The 2024 conference will take place on 5 and 6 December at the heart of International Geneva in the GCSP premises. The two-day conference will consist of panel discussions open to the public and focused expert workshops gathering academics and practitioners.

The conference will unite top-notch practitioners and scholars in the field of international negotiations. The PIN Steering Committee will actively contribute to the conference expertise.

The programme of the first day, open to public, can be found below. 

In order to register to attend one or several panel discussions please click here. The second day of the conference is an expert workshop on invitations only.

Confirmed participants are (in alphabetical order):

  • Mark ANSTEY, Emeritus Professor, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
  • Karin AGGESTAM, Professor of Political Science, Lund University, Director of the Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies and Member of the PIN Steering Committee
  • Sara BERTOTTI, Policy Analyst, Security Council Report
  • Ambassador Priyanka CHAUHAN, Deputy Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva
  • Cédric DUPONT, Professor of international relations / Political science, Geneva Graduate Institute
  • Guy Olivier FAURE, President of the Diplomatic School of Brussels and Member of the PIN Steering Committee
  • Rosa FREEDMAN, Professor of Law Conflict and Global Development, University of Reading
  • Richard GOWAN, UN Director, International Crisis Group
  • Ambassador Christian GUILLERMET FERNANDEZ, Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva
  • Fen Osler HAMPSON, Chancellor’s Professor and Professor of International Affairs, Carleton University and President, World Refugee & Migration Council
  • Narayanappa JANARDHAN, Director of Research and Analysis, Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy
  • Gabrielle MARCEAU, Counsellor for Research on Legal Policy, World Trade Organization
  • Paul MEERTS, Deputy General Director Emeritus of the Netherlands Institute of International Relations 'Clingendael' and Member of the PIN Steering Committee
  • Suerie MOON, Professor and Co-Director Global Health Centre, Geneva Graduate Institute
  • Karthik NACHIAPPAN, Research Fellow, Institute of South Asian Studies, National university of Singapore
  • William POTTER, Director, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey 
  • Roxana RADU, Associate Professor of Digital Technologies and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford
  • Ambassador David RILEY, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the Conference on Disarmament 
  • Rudolf SCHÜSSLER, Professor of Philosophy, University of Bayreuth and Member of the PIN Steering Committee
  • Ambassador SHEN Jian, Deputy Permanent Representative and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary for Disarmament Affairs, Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva and other international organizations in Switzerland
  • Asaf SINIVER, Professor of International Security at the University of Birmingham and Co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal International Affairs
  • Christoph SPENNEMANN, Swiss Representative for Intellectual Property
  • Ambassador Julien THÖNI, Head of the Multilateral Affairs Division and Deputy Permanent Representative of Switzerland
  • Mikhail TROITSKIY, Visiting Scholar, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University; Visiting Professor, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
  • Tobias VESTNER, Director of Research and Policy Advice Department and Head of Security and Law, Geneva Centre for Security Policy and Member of the PIN Steering Committee
  • Lynn M. WAGNER, Senior Director of the Tracking Progress Program, International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) 
  • I. William ZARTMAN, Jacob Blaustein Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University and Member of the PIN Steering Committee

 

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