The current breakdown of international norms and multilateral cooperation based on partnership has made for a much more unstable and vulnerable world. Zero-sum game geopolitics and the unilateral and often violent exercise of interest politics have taken centre stage. However, the inherent unsustainability of Trump’s “dysfunctional unipolarity” or Putin’s neo-imperial pretensions and the potential backlash they are generating might provide an opening for a renewal of meaningful multilateralism. With this panel, we will consider the need for cooperation principles that are based on broad understandings of human security as a common good and multilateral cooperation goal. Such cooperation would not neglect local interests. On the contrary, a human security approach would recognise interdependencies between states and regions and the fact that long-term sustainability and human flourishing are only possible when security, understood as well-being, social development and physical protection, is comprehensive and shared rather than confined within state borders. The question of course remains as to whether multilateralism can be rebuilt in ways that promote learning, adaptation and trust-building and thus provide framework conditions for meaningful human security practices.
This open panel welcomes contributions that engage with the quest for a more comprehensive understanding of security, exploring alternative multilateral cooperation frameworks that extend beyond traditional state-centric approaches. Recognising that trust-building is also predicated on more equitable partnerships rather than a continuation of hegemonic practices, we also welcome alternative readings from different regional perspectives.
