HAH Report
Islamabad
A noted French thinker has called for promotion of social solidarity and integration amid growing inequality and discord to tackle global challenges.
He stressed on prioritising social issues over strategic issues.
Multilateralism has failed to resolve the very social issues such as food security, inequality, migration, and climate change.—Prof Badie
The global governance system of multilateralism has failed to resolve the very social issues such as food security, inequality, migration, and climate change mainly due to lack of social solidarity and social integration.
These views were expressed by Bertrand Badie, Emeritus Professor of Political Sciences and a renowned political scientist, while delivering a distinguish lecture titled “Toward New Global Governance” organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) at Islamabad on Monday.
Professor Badie said that international institutions of global governance have been hardly able to reform and to adapt them to the changing social dimensions.
“Multilateralism does not sufficiently take into account the social dimensions of the globalization,” he argued.
The traditional multilateralism does not work anymore, as it was shaped in a quite different context, in a time of superpower competition, when development, environment, new social and transnational violence, and multiculturalism were not the main issues at stake, he suggested.
Rise in demonstrations around the world is ‘protest diplomacy’, where marginalised stakeholders were denied of all platforms of decision making.—Prof Badie
Professor Badie, an international relations expert, said that minilateralism has emerged and more substituted to multilateralism, as we can observe through the diplomacy, contact groups and the comeback of bilateralism.
The scholar termed the rise of demonstrations around the world as ‘protest diplomacy’, where marginalised stakeholders were denied of all platforms of decision making. The only options left to protesters are streets and roads.
He said that it is social integration not power integration which is the real cornerstone of a progressive social system.
Dr Vaqar Ahmed, Joint Executive Director, SDPI, said that we need to have new research on what role developing countries can play in global governance. This will remain important if these countries wish to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs).
He said the South-South dialogue required to reach a consensus on what role can be played by post-colonial countries in a post-bipolar world. The developing countries also need to play a more proactive role in the reforms of multilateralism.
The voice of youth and marginalised is still missing in the global governance discourse.—Dr Vaqar Ahmed
He said the voice of youth and marginalised is still missing in the global governance discourse. We also need a public-private dialogue to see what opportunities are coming towards Pakistan’s way as a result of international developments such as US-China trade war and Brexit, he added.
He further said South Asia as a region also needs to study the dividends of France-German cooperation, which is a lesson too for Pakistan-India cooperation as well.
Profile of Bertrand Badie
Emeritus Professor in Political Sciences, Bertrand Badie is one of the most prominent international relations thinkers in France. His areas of expertise are among others sociology and theory of international relations, comparative politics, multilateralism, transformations of state and sovereignty in international relations.
Member of the Editorial Board of several journals (European Review of International Studies (Chairman) Contemporary Politics, Journal of International Relations and Development, Etudes Internationals, Brazilian Journal of Strategy and International Relations, Indian Journal of Law and International Affairs, International Journal of Human Rights).
He has been visiting professor at the Universities of Lausanne, Geneva, Tunis, Rabat, Fès, Porto-Alegre, Bologna, Florence, Berlin, Istanbul, Moscow, Cairo, Tokyo, Beyruth, Cape Town (Western Cape), Amsterdam, Roma, Bonn, Tubingen, Leipzig, Mexico, Montreal, Quebec, Moncton, Bogota, Nuakchott, Sao Paulo, Brasilia, St Andrews, Sussex, Buenos Aires.
He is author of several books including The Sociology of the State, Chicago, with Pierre Birnbaum; The Imported State, Stanford, The Diplomacy of Connivance, London, Humiliation in International Relations (forthcoming), Political Science: A Global Perspective, with L. Morlino, D. Berg-Schlosser, International Encyclopedia in Political Science (with D. Berg-Schlosser and L. Morlino), New Perspectives on the International Order. No Longer Alone in the World.