In less than a month, we will commemorate the thirty-fifth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. And next year, the first quarter of the twenty-first century will come to an end. It’s time, in other words, for this Berlin-based observer to take stock of the era and see where we are headed next in multilateralism.
Values in Multilateralism: A Question of All or Nothing?
During the 1990s and 2000s, the hubris of the so-called global West in promoting its values had catastrophic effects—one only needs to think of the USA’s war against Iraq, which continues to have devastating consequences throughout the region. And yet, a values vacuum is also not the answer. The idea that “in times of climate crisis, it is essential to cooperate with everyone at any cost” will not help us reach our climate goals. Women’s rights and education, for example, are crucial conditions for overcoming poverty, combating the climate crisis, and promoting sustainable economic practices. Similarly, an independent and free press is more relevant today than ever, as fake news, so-called alternative facts and propaganda—exponentially multiplied via the Internet—serve to silence voices calling for policymaking founded on fact and focused on solutions.
A New Narrative for Shared Global Values
The euphoria surrounding the fall of the Berlin Wall led many to overestimate the transformative power of “Western” values, as seen in Fukuyama’s End of History. Often, the promotion of values only served to obscure the pursuit of national interests, giving rise to accusations of hypocrisy. However, to replace that glorification of “Western” values with value relativism would be a mistake. The crimes of colonialism and imperialism do not diminish the significance of an aggressive war against a neighboring country, such as the one Russia instigated. What we need now is a new narrative, one that emphasizes shared global values.
Even if implementation remains inadequate and double standards and hypocrisy persist—and will continue to do so—the mere fact that human rights are codified and that the international community has agreed on the United Nations Charter is profoundly significant. These agreements, these evidence of shared values, point us towards the development of a new global ethos.
Progress Amid Setbacks
While the international system is still characterized by colonialism, exploitation and a Western-dominated international institutional system, we continue to see progress. In the first decade of the twenty-first century, for example, the global community reached near universal agreement on the SDGs and the Paris Climate Agreement, defining the crucial goals and instruments for the survival of our planet and humanity. In addition, after 20 years of negotiations, the global community reached a landmark agreement to protect the oceans. These examples demonstrate that the often arduous and lengthy path of multilateralism can yield effective results.
Shared Problems, Shared Responsibility
To ensure the success of international agreements, we need to involve multiple stakeholders, not only from government, but also civil society and the private sector. At the same time, this means that stakeholders can no longer feign innocence and stay in their respective lanes. Continuing this train of thought, it is imperative that companies no longer claim that “the Business of Business is Business” by way of absolution.
Does this mean that policymakers are off the hook? No. It also doesn’t erase the fact that different actors bear different levels of responsibility for CO2 consumption. It does, however, acknowledge that different actors possess varying tools, capacities and abilities to advance positive developments for the world. The weight of this responsibility needs to be shared by us all and points to the emergence of a new global value system. Within this context, it is a hopeful sign that the South African G20 Presidency will involve civil society more actively in the 2025 process.
Another factor remains global wealth disparities. A “me-first” or “my-country-first” attitude will prove both extremely harmful and ineffective. This attitude will inevitably cause harm to the global common goods. While this may seem like a danger in the distant future, in the long run no one will accept that a small minority exploits the majority of shared global resources.
A Pact for the Future: But Which Future?
The rest of the twenty-first century will witness the emergence of a new geostrategic, political and economic global architecture. Hopefully, the USA, China, India and emerging powers will take the transformation of the international system as an opportunity to solve the major challenges facing humanity, be it climate change, overcoming poverty or regulating artificial intelligence. We will need to agree on mechanisms for sustainably financing global public goods–because no single state or region can finance this transition on their own.
Last month, almost thirty-five years after the fall of the Wall, the international community signaled its commitment to multilateralism with the Pact of the Future. While the concrete results of UN reform efforts are considered lackluster in policy circles, the implications of this commitment are clear: Hard-won global agreements point towards an emerging consensus around shared values, and acknowledge that protecting these values will be crucial to meeting the challenges ahead.