Our work on revitalizing multilateral cooperation analyzes the shifting geopolitical landscape and identifies opportunities for multilateral solutions to transnational challenges, including pandemics, water scarcity, and threats to cultural heritage.
An empirical basis is needed to better understand the state of the multilateral system and to inform decision making on where to focus political and other efforts to advance collective action. The Index of Multilateralism, co-developed by IPI and the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), will provide an evidence-based assessment of several questions: What areas of international cooperation are resilient, and which are at risk? What are the trends over time? Which multilateral mechanisms are best suited to address different traditional and emerging challenges? Which provide opportunities for local or non-state stakeholders such as cities, the private sector, and civil society?
The index will measure international engagement in areas including international peace and security, human rights and humanitarian affairs, economic cooperation and development, climate, and public health. It will draw from available data sets on, inter alia, institutional membership, diplomatic presence, public perceptions of international institutions, multilateral voting patterns, financial contributions to international organizations, and compliance with international treaties, compacts, decisions, and rulings. Read more>>
One important factor enabling durable peace is a shared sense of ownership and understanding of our heritage, which can help bind people together and contribute to their common understanding of history. Yet despite efforts by some states, our cultural heritage remains under threat from armed conflicts and increasingly complex global challenges such as climate change. How can we ensure that the social, economic, and cultural value of our heritage is acknowledged, protected, and utilized to help local communities achieve social cohesion and sustainable peace? Urgent collective action is needed at the local, regional, and multilateral levels.
Through a combination of research, convening (virtually, as necessary), and strategic outreach, this two-year project aims to strengthen the protection of cultural heritage in situations of armed conflict (with special focus on Mali, Iraq, and Syria) by connecting local level efforts with those of governments and multilateral organizations. In addition, the project will take stock of recent normative and operational developments in the protection of cultural heritage from destruction during armed conflict, assess the effectiveness of these developments, identify areas where further strengthening is required, and propose realistic recommendations on how to advance this agenda.
Building on conferences held in 2015 and 2016 on violent extremist attacks on cultural heritage sites, IPI’s Middle East and North Africa (MENA) office is further bolstering its partnerships with the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO), the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (ARC-WH), UNESCO, and the Government of Bahrain to identify practical next steps to raise regional and global awareness of the threat of violent extremism to cultural heritage. The goal is to increase cooperation and coordination on protecting the world’s heritage in conflict zones.
World Water Day was first proposed at the Rio Summit in 1992, and first held the following year. IPI MENA’s second annual World Water Day event, originally scheduled for 2020, will be moved to 2021 due to the ramifications of COVID-19. This event will address questions including: How can cooperation on water management become an entry point for regional dialogue and cooperation? Are water-related risks being properly recognized and mitigated by countries in the MENA region? How can the international community capitalize on water cooperation frameworks to mitigate the outbreak of conflict? How is climate change affecting water resources? And what are the most effective tools for greater cooperation considering the regional context?
IPI is planning a series of meetings on the water, peace, and security nexus in cooperation with the Geneva Water Hub. The events will build upon the “safe space” experience and procedures developed by the Geneva Water Hub, which entails thematic meetings gathering experts to discuss challenges and solutions in a closed-door format with the support of academic inputs prior to the discussion.
The Honorable Kevin Rudd AC, 26th Prime Minister of Australia, President of the Asia Society Policy Institute, and Chair of IPI’s Board of Directors and H.E. Mr. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, President of the 74th Session of the UN General AssemblyIn an IPI virtual event on April 24th, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, the President of the 74th Session of […]
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The Republic of Korea will host the next UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Conference in April 2021. In the context of the secretary-general’s Action for Peacekeeping (A4P) initiative, the objective of the 2021 ministerial is to strengthen UN peacekeeping, in part by improving the performance and impact of UN peacekeeping operations, closing capability gaps through concrete pledges, […]
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Since 2013, after years of near absence from the continent, a number of European countries, along with Canada, have again deployed to UN peacekeeping missions in Africa. The European presence in UN peacekeeping in Africa is now nearly at its largest since the mid-1990s. These countries provide much-needed high-end capabilities, as well as political and […]
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IPI held a policy forum on November 7th on the evolution of the strategic partnership between the United Nations and the African Union, with a specific focus on how they undertake conflict prevention and crisis management efforts. Organized with the support of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the African Union Permanent Observer Mission to […]
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From left: Lauri Mälksoo, Professor of International Law, University of Tartu, Estonia; Adam Lupel, IPI Vice President; and Kristi Raik, Director of the Foreign Policy InstituteIn October, Estonia and Finland brought IPI Vice President Adam Lupel to two separate forums to discuss the sometimes challenging but critical role small states play in policymaking and global […]
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The United Nations and the African Union (AU) have worked in tandem since the AU’s establishment in 2002. During this time, their partnership has evolved to focus increasingly on conflict prevention and crisis management, culminating in the 2017 Joint UN-AU Framework for Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security. But while the organizations’ collaboration on peacekeeping […]
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Foreign ministers from some 50 countries were welcomed by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on September 26th to the launch of the Alliance for Multilateralism, moderated by IPI President Terje Rød-Larsen. With nationalism and protectionism on the rise, this informal group of nations came together during United Nations […]
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Women’s rights are increasingly facing pushback with global trends towards populism and shifting centers of power. This pushback is also occurring at a time when preparations are being made to mark the anniversaries of key international commitments to women’s rights in 2020, including the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and Security Council Resolution 1325 […]
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Two foreign ministers recently took issue with the currently fashionable notion that patriotism and multilateralism are incompatible. The exchange took place during an IPI high-level panel on multilateral engagement for peace and security by small and medium states.“I think you can be a patriot and a multilateralist at the same time, and small states actually […]
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“Multilateralism has been highly relevant to the evolution of the arms control nuclear non-proliferation disarmament agenda,” Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister of Australia and the Chair of IPI’s Board of Directors, told a September 23rd Policy Forum cosponsored by IPI and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO). He cited the example of a key […]
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The International Peace Institute is an independent, international not-for-profit think tank with a staff representing more than 20 nationalities, located in New York across from United Nations headquarters. IPI is dedicated to promoting the prevention and resolution of conflicts between and within states by strengthening international peace and security institutions. To achieve its purpose, IPI employs a mix of policy research, convening, publishing and outreach.
The Global Observatory provides timely analysis on trends and issues related to global security.
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