Reinventing Diplomacy

Thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, our world has changed dramatically. We are not experiencing the ‘end of history’, as some analysts have forecasted, but our societies are going through a phase of great uncertainty and turmoil.

The speed of digital advancement in all areas of life reflects an enormous leap in technological innovation, opening the door for new opportunities. But it has, at the same time, been an unprecedented engine for globalisation – a source of great insecurity for many people who feel increasingly powerless in an ever more complex world. People are longing for simple answers to complex problems, which leaders are unable to provide. Rising frustration, withdrawal into the private, resurgence of nationalist trends and radicalisation of opinions are resulting phenomena. We see a loss of common sense, of solidarity in many of our societies, and an erosion of our very value system which has been the guarantor for freedom, stability and prosperity in the past two generations.

These domestic trends are mirrored in international relations. The system of global governance is rapidly eroding. It must be a major concern if multilateral organisations and treaties are deconstructed by the architect of this system, if ‘America First’ is putting transatlantic partnerships in question and if a rising power like China is starting to fill the vacuum created by interest-driven national concepts of governance. Autocratic leaders are en vogue, propaganda is replacing dialogue and national interest is pushing aside action to defend global common goods.

Despite all deficiencies, the existing global system has been a framework for driving positive development in many regions over seven decades. Notwithstanding, 75 years after the creation of the United Nations, it needs more than an overhaul. It needs a complete renovation to make it fit for the twenty-first century.

Europe, which is the most successful prototype of supranational cooperation, would be a perfect leader in the process of modernising the international system. But the European Union is weakened by populism and other domestic developments at a time when it is direly needed as a bridge-builder. In Europe and elsewhere, this sober assessment requires new thinking and new concepts of action.

What is needed more than ever is responsible leadership. Governments alone are no longer capable of solving the complex challenges we face.