| ID | 085953 |
| Title Proper | International conflict and cooperation in the 21st century |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Srinivasan, Krishnan |
| Publication | 2009. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | The rise of modern institutional multilateralism is a phenomenon dating back less than a hundred years, and there is no reason to infer that it is either immutable or permanent. With the end of the Cold War, there was an expectation of global consensus and the implementation of collective security. But this depended to an excessive extent on the United States and its willingness to use force, and the level of subjectivity in US-led interventions gave rise to questions of whether multilateralism could survive in conditions of unipolarity. Now the primacy of the United States is slipping, and its pre-eminence will decline as manufacturing, technology and innovation spread. From being the major lending country, it has become the biggest debtor. Despite American military superiority, the world will be increasingly poly-centric and the new emerging powers will exert a strong and increasing influence in world affairs. The character of international cooperation in the next few decades will be shaped by a process by which about half a dozen new major powers seek to mould regional orders of their own. A return to something akin to the 19th-century Concert of Powers seems possible, but this time on a global scale, and with the participation of the emerging strong nations in formal and informal governance structures. The United Nations will continue as a symbol of state sovereignty, and its remit in humanitarian, cultural and developmental good works will be unchallenged, but peace and security decisions at the regional level will be taken by the regional powers on the basis of their self-interest and without reference to the United Nations. Notwithstanding the reasons for the future world order, the existing foundations of security management will not be replaced by anything more reliable, just or legitimate. |
| `In' analytical Note | Round Table Vol. 98, No. 400; Feb 2009: p.37 - 47 |
| Journal Source | Round Table Vol. 98, No. 400; Feb 2009: p.37 - 47 |
| Key Words | Multilateralism ; Unipolarity ; Hegemony ; Sphere of Influence ; New Emerging Powers ; Security Management ; Unilateralism |