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.
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.
High-risk challenges are undermining the international rule-based order on multiple fronts. This view has been growing in acceptance for several years, and recent developments have reinforced the sense that the UN-based system of multilateral cooperation is “under siege.”Yet, international cooperation has never been more necessary. What is at stake in the weakening of the international […]
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“Those of us seeking to be active supporters of the UN over many years and decades understand very well that the system itself is under challenge, multilateralism as a concept of governance is under deep challenge,” IPI Chair Kevin Rudd told a United Nations event organized by IPI and the Office of the President of […]
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During an event in Tunis on December 13, 2018, IPI-MENA Director Nejib Friji warned against perils to world heritage and called on the international community to provide all conditions of protection and preservation.In a statement delivered at the opening plenary session of the Arab League Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization’s (ALECSO) Fourth Meeting of the […]
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Opening a discussion at IPI on Broader Perspectives on the UN of Today and Tomorrow, outgoing President of the United Nations General Assembly Miroslav Lajčák said the “sad reality” facing the international organization was that “multilateralism is under threat.” He said that principles on which the UN were founded are “no longer universally accepted and […]
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The global health architecture is increasingly under strain. Pandemics and epidemics are occurring at an unprecedented rate in recent years, and the Ebola crisis in particular revealed serious flaws in the capability of the system to prevent and respond to these crises. As the links between health, development, and security challenges become ever clearer, the […]
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From September 3–5, 2017, IPI convened its annual Salzburg Forum on the theme “Mapping the New Geopolitics, Prisoners of Geography or Lords of the Land?”The meeting brought together former prime ministers and foreign ministers, officials from the United Nations and regional organizations, diplomats, journalists, academics, experts on the Middle East and Europe, and representatives of […]
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The International Peace Institute (IPI) has entered into a partnership with the Council of Europe to work together on building peace and democracy.The Council’s Director General of Democracy Snežana Samardžić-Marković signed a memorandum of understanding on behalf of the Council at IPI’s Salzburg Forum on “Mapping of the New Geopolitics” on September 4, 2017. Vice […]
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The current wave of technological change has created new opportunities for multilateral cooperation across a wide range of areas, including sustainable development, conflict prevention, humanitarian responses, peace operations, and state-society relations. At the same time, however, it has created an enduring “digital divide,” raised questions about Internet governance and privacy, and led to new forms […]
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Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and three of his fellow Elders told a thronged audience at IPI on May 9th that multilateral diplomacy was the only way to address critical issues facing the world today like armed conflict, climate change, mass migration, nuclear proliferation, and bad governance.“We need to work across national borders to […]
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Over the past few years, the world has been confronted with a series of crises that have challenged perceptions of global stability. Whether a moment of high risk or great opportunity, this is without a doubt a moment of growing complexity. More actors, institutions, and networks of interests are engaged in the international sphere than […]
Read moreThe threat facing Côte d’Ivoire is tied to its geographical proximity to established terrorism epicenters and its domestic and foreign policy…
Recent events in the US and across the world have rightfully put the spotlight on the legitimate function of the police, and increased calls for different forms of…
Despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine, the Ebola…
Daisuku Higashi, a professor at Sophia University in Tokyo, on the state of the peace process in South Sudan and the impact that the political transition in Sudan is having on its…
The global, swift, and devastating nature of the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates the need to finally put the nexus theory into practice, both for this crisis and…
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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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