COVID-19 has uncovered the interdependencies of our globalized era and revealed how quickly interruptions in this system translate into peoples everyday lives all around the globe. So how has “the world” fared in (politically) managing this challenge as a whole? Have we succeeded in cooperating globally to overcome this crisis? And what does our response to this one tell us about any challenges of the future, such as the climate change emergency?
A couple of weeks ago, our host Prof. Jan Aart Scholte spoke with Dr Richard Ponzio, Director of the "Global Governance, Justice & Security“ Program and Senior Fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington, D.C. He wanted to know: Does traditional multilateral cooperation have a future? What will diplomacy post-COVID-19 look like? And what role could private actors play in the global cooperation architecture of the future?
As a mode of global cooperation, multilateralism has been under strain long before the onset of the pandemic, as certain actors have been contesting either its functionality or even its value altogether. Evidence of an increasingly fragile internationalism, where great powers instrumentalize institutions for geopolitical calculations, has loomed not just since the protectionist turn of the Trump administration. However, Richard sees reason to be mildly optimistic about how this crisis will be dealt with, given, for instance, the United States‘ return to a more international profile under the Biden administration.
In our ‘Research Feature’ segment we talk to Michele Tedeschini about his work on the legacy of the New International Economic Order and how its ideas still resonate in today’s international relations and influence the relationships of countries of the so-called “Global South” with each other, and with the industrialized nations of “the West”.
Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction
02:55 - Interview with Richard Ponzio
46:00 - Research Feature: Michele Tedeschini
For further info on Michele‘s work see his website or follow him on twitter: @mtedeschini. You can find the edited volume „Contingency in International Law“ here, and Michele‘s paper here.
If you have feedback or questions for us, we look forward to your comments to our twitter account @GCR_21 via the hashtag #cooperadiopodcast or you can get in touch via e-mail: cooperadio@gcr21.uni-due.de.
If you have any questions for Richard, follow him on twitter: @RichardPonzio!
Further Reading by Richard Ponzio:
„Coping with New and Old Crises“
„Perils and pitfalls of America‘s return to the multilateral order“