Unilateralism, protectionism, anti-globalization, geopolitical tensions, and difficulties in global economic recovery. The world situation is complex, full of problems and uncertainties. What is the reason? The way out is in **?
Focusing on the above issues, the guests who participated in the "2023 Imperial Springs International Forum" from December 4 to 5 mentioned the same word - multilateralism.
During the forum, more than 130 guests from more than 40 countries from politics, business and academia conducted in-depth discussions on the theme of "Multilateralism: More Exchanges, More Inclusiveness, and More Cooperation".
The core essence of multilateralism is that international affairs should be handled by everyone, not by one country or a few countries. The Observer Network noted that the "Imperial Springs International Forum" has focused on multilateralism for three consecutive years.
The problem of multilateralism deficit is a serious and long-term problem that has long attracted global attention and discussion. Danilo Türk, president of the Alliance of World Leaders and former Slovenian leader, told the Observer Network that none of the world's major problems can be solved without a proactive multilateral response. Today, we are discussing this issue at the Imperial Springs International Forum in an attempt to study how to reverse this situation.
Why is the world falling apart?
When open multilateralism is in trouble, the world is becoming increasingly fragmented.
Talking about the reasons for this problem, former Serbian Boris Tadic told the Observer that he believes that "the international order established after World War II is no longer effective, and the world has undergone profound changes." For example, after World War II, there were only two superpowers in the world, the United States and the Soviet Union, and now China and India have also stepped onto the stage of world political security. Therefore, we need to change multilateral institutions to make them more functional and credible. ”
Maria Fernanda Espinosa, President of the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly and former Foreign Minister of Ecuador, also told the Observer Network that in recent years, with the development of the economic and political power of emerging powers, a multipolar world is taking shape, and multipolar forces are building a new system of international relations.
Factors like BRICS, BRICS+, G20, G7, etc., all have the attributes of multilateralism, and the challenge now is how can we pool these forces to jointly solve the new problems we face. Espinosa believes that in the future, the United Nations will continue to play a central role in multilateralism.
The United Nations can be improved, but not replaced. With 193 member states, the United Nations is the only place where large and small countries come together to discuss and decide on key issues. ”
From left to right: Danilo Turke, President of the World Leaders Alliance and former Slovenian Minister, Boris Tadic, former Serbian President, Maria Fernanda Espinosa, President of the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly and former Foreign Minister of Ecuador, and Yi Xiaozhun, former Deputy Director-General of the WTO and former Chinese Ambassador to the WTO.
Espinosa said that the world is constantly changing, and governance structures and institutions need to adapt to the needs of this changing world. Today, we are in the midst of a transition between the old and the new models, which may be why everything seems so confusing and difficult, but I believe it can be done, as China's "Three Global Initiatives" offer new ways to solve the problem.
Sean Cleary, executive vice president of the Future World**, told the Observer that he believes the world is becoming more and more fragmented due to the increasing number of social problems in various countries. Populism is widespread at the national level because the multilateral system at the global level and the domestic systems of many countries fail to meet the expectations of the population.
Therefore, we need to think about collective action, or global governance, which is an extremely important issue at the moment. This is also the reason why UN Secretary-General António Guterres submitted a report on "Our Common Agenda" to the UN General Assembly, and China proposed the "Three Global Initiatives", which were discussed substantively by scholars, diplomats and personnel. Cleary believes that putting the problem on the table now is a huge step towards solving the problem.
In the face of the current trend of returning to unilateralism in international affairs, Fang Ning, former director of the Institute of Political Science of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Observer that he believes that this is mainly because Western countries led by the United States are dissatisfied with their status and role in the current global international affairs, and are trying to re-establish a unilateral or Western-dominated world order and a governance system for handling international affairs.
Xiang Songzuo, former chief economist of the Agricultural Bank of China and president of the Shenzhen Greater Bay Area Financial Research Institute, believes that it is never possible to reach a consensus that all countries and nations agree on, for example, the world's views on the benefits of globalization vary widely. "If you want to talk about multilateralism, each country will think about its own interests first. But there are some basic commonalities that can be found between many countries, perhaps small, but that is where the hope lies. So look for more intersection and consensus. Multilateralism does not mean that everyone thinks the same thing, but that there is a growing consensus and that there is not so much conflict. ”
The scene of the 2023 Imperial Springs International Forum" sub-forum Source: Observer.com.
Global challenges are emerging, and a chaotic world requires multilateral cooperation
Yi Xiaozhun, former Deputy Director-General of the WTO and former Chinese Ambassador to the WTO, shared several views from the perspective of the multilateral system:
First, economic globalization is encountering strong headwinds, and the major developed countries are blowing headwinds of deglobalization, which are prominently manifested in the rise of populism, nationalism, and isolationism and protectionist tendencies in international politics in domestic politics.
In the past two years, in order to pass on the social contradictions caused by uneven domestic distribution, some major countries have tried to replace the WTO's non-discrimination principle with so-called values, replace multilateral cooperation with group politics of countries with similar views, cover up unilateral protection measures with generalized exceptions, and coerce the reorganization of the global value chain by administrative means. Therefore, we must be especially vigilant that the world economy is returning to the law of the jungle based on strength.
Third, all countries should not fall into the layout of protectionism. The above problems in globalization are mainly due to the mistakes of the domestic economic policies of some developed countries, especially the unfair benefits obtained by different social strata in the process of globalization, which can neither be attributed to the liberalization of investment nor the multilateral principle of openness and non-discrimination of the WTO, and the key is to deal with the problem of social injustice in their own countries.
For example, globalization over the past few decades has brought vast amounts of wealth to the United States, but because of its unfair domestic distribution system, much of this wealth has gone to a few wealthy people, and other social classes have not benefited but have become victims. However, some Nordic countries such as Sweden, Denmark, and Norway have not seen a clear wave of anti-globalization because they have dealt with the social injustices that globalization can bring about in a correct and timely manner. Therefore, some developed countries should learn from the experience of these Nordic countries when dealing with anti-globalization issues.
When talking about the challenges of the global economy and the prospects for economic recovery, Xiang Songzuo said that global governance, economy and finance have fallen into a very chaotic period. "Previously, we had the WTO platform framework to negotiate and discuss, but in my opinion, some countries do not want to play a role within the WTO framework, they want to reform and change. Earlier, we were told that there are people in the United States who feel that the WTO framework is now bad for the United States, so they want to change, they want to withdraw from the WTO and establish a new framework. ”
Xiang Songzuo believes that the debt crisis is also an important challenge facing the global economy at present. "This is a conundrum after the 2008 financial crisis and the 2010 European sovereign debt crisis, where almost every country, especially developed countries, is increasing their debt. Because issuing bonds and printing money is the easiest way to contain the current problem, they don't want to reform fundamentally, not knowing that it has created more problems, especially for developing countries. ”
He also mentioned that the impact and risks of AI on the economy should also be a cause for concern. "If AI can do a lot of everyday work, what about people? Where to go**?
From left to right: Xiang Songzuo, former chief economist of the Agricultural Bank of China and president of the Shenzhen Greater Bay Area Financial Research Institute, Sean Clearey, executive vice chairman of the Future World Association, and Fang Ning, former director of the Institute of Political Science of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Today, the world is facing more difficult and emerging global challenges than ever before. Yi Xiaozhun said: "In the face of a global crisis, neither large nor small countries can be immune, and no country can deal with it alone. Therefore, all countries, especially major countries, should conform to the historical tide of economic globalization, abandon the zero-sum Cold War mentality, and take the initiative to shoulder their due responsibilities. ”
How can China contribute more to the world?
During the 2023 Imperial Springs International Forum, Fang Ning introduced the current governance system of international relations between China and multilateralism, the four dimensions of future world relations, and the role that China can play in these four dimensions
The first is the relationship between China and the United States. It is often said that the U.S.-China relationship is one of the most important bilateral relations in the world. China-US relations have been deeply embedded in multilateralism in international relations, and occupy an important position and great influence in today's international affairs. Therefore, stable and constructive Sino-US relations are an important condition for China's development, and if Sino-US relations are good, the world will be better and the world will be better tomorrow.
The second is China's multilateral relations with developed economies such as Europe. Since the implementation of reform and opening up, China's economy has achieved leapfrog development and has become the world's second largest economy. China now has the largest production capacity in the world and is known as the world's factory, and China's huge production capacity and output are support for developed countries, developed economies. At the same time, the developed economies are the main consumers of China's large-scale production process, and without the developed economies, I think it is difficult for the Chinese economy to maintain healthy development, so neither China nor the developed economies can do without each other, and this is related to the future of the world.
The third is China's multilateral relations with emerging countries and economies. China itself is one of the emerging economies, and it has a cooperative and competitive relationship with other emerging economies, and this multilateral relationship plays an important role in promoting the development of emerging economies, including China. For example, China's cooperation with the BRICS and ASEAN countries. Therefore, building and handling China's multilateral relations with other emerging economies is an important means for emerging economies to achieve a win-win situation.
Fourth, China's relationship with the vast number of underdeveloped economies. Underdeveloped countries are the potential market for the development of the world economy, and at the same time, they are also the leading party of the world's resources, and many natural resources come from the underdeveloped countries. China's economy has a certain driving role for the vast number of underdeveloped countries and underdeveloped economies, and the development of the latter is also of important and positive significance to China's sustainable development.
This article is sourced from: Observer.com.