Rebuilding multilateralism

The 1990s and 2000s were a golden age of multilateralism, culminating in the inclusive G20 response to the great financial crisis. The most recent history of multilateralism, the 2010s and 2020s, is one of paradox. On the one hand, collective action has never been so necessary in the face of the emergence of clearly global public goods and risks – climate, energy, migration, data, cyber risk – and in the face of the multiplication of crises.
But this collective action has never been so difficult: globalisation as we knew it is discredited, international institutions are ill-equipped to deal with the new challenges, and the criticism of our representative democracies calls into question the legitimacy and effectiveness of the multilateral system.
The shockwave created by the invasion of Ukraine could be fatal to the multilateral system if it fails once again to prove its usefulness in the face of common challenges.