Navigating the Multilateral Seas: Lost in Decomposition? - Politique étrangère, Vol. 90, No. 2, Summer 2025
Institutionalized multilateralism seems to be under threat from power politics, especially within the UN system. There are continuing demands for the UN to be reformed. And flexible forms of consultation are being developed, such as club diplomacy and minilateralism. The reshaping of multilateralism is thus taking place mainly outside the institutional system, and its distance from the liberal international order and the multipolar order makes it less likely that the earth's habitability will be placed at the top of the multilateral agenda.
Frédéric Ramel is Professor of Political Science at Sciences Po Paris. As researcher at the Centre de recherches internationales (CERI), he co-directed the ANR DATAWAR program (2019-2023) and coordinates the Groupe de recherche sur l'action multilatérale (GRAM) at CNRS. He has just published Espace mondial (Paris, Presses de Sciences Po, 2024).
Article available in French only, published in Politique étrangère, Vol. 90, No. 2, Summer 2025.
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Navigating the Multilateral Seas: Lost in Decomposition? - Politique étrangère, Vol. 90, No. 2, Summer 2025
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Historically, technological change has altered how battles are fought but has not overturned the fundamental principles of war. However, three considerations may now represent an actual revolution: the recourse to tactical nuclear weapons, the development of software for “multi-domain operations,” and the prospect of general artificial intelligence. The organization of militaries and the use of force need to be rethought in this light.
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