The world after World War II was based on the concept of multilateralism in various political and economic fields. Embodiment in the growing role of international organizations.
On the economic level, the establishment of the World Trade Organization sealed the triangle of international organizations that dominate the world economy (the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank).
However, with the increase in protectionist tendencies, trade tensions, and the tendency towards concluding bilateral and regional agreements, fears have emerged that multilateralism will enter a crisis that threatens its survival.
What do you think of that?
Professor Jadish Bhagwati has coined the phrase Protective Trade Agreement to characterize what you say of bilateral trade agreements or what come under Free Trade Agreements. Multilateral trade agreement under WTO (formerly GATT) seems promising if they can speed up their delivery of negotiation rounds.
Lall B. Ramrattan Totally agree with you, especially since Professor Jadish Bhagwati considered bilateral and regional agreements as termites undermining and fragmenting the multilateral trading system.
Despite her strong opposition to these agreements, it seems that his call fell on deaf ears, until these agreements continued to grow and instead of being an exception to the rules of global free trade, the latter became the exception.
Protectionism and authoritarianism are on the rise, everywhere.
Trade is not about imperialism, but about our comparative advantage of mutual exchanges in a solid monetary framework. We need new terms of trade and a clear reduction of economic rent in the human exchange of goods and services.
Given the strong decolonization tendency at present, multilateralism was a pretext that no more shows signs of life.
Dear Othmane,
I find it very strange that you call ''multilateralism'' the hegemonistic system put in placed at the end of the WWII by the winning power. Its intent was hegemony and it started as a confrontation between two block and end up almost totally winning with the Fall of the Berlin wall. The current crisis is not at all caused ''the increase in protectionist tendencies, trade tensions, and the tendency towards concluding bilateral and regional agreements,''. It is currently trying to get rid of all the remainsing obstacles for a world totalitarian order. It is in a transition towards a new world currency and total surveillance not only of our physical actions but of our internal physiology and thoughts. ''multilateralism'' has never been the program. The program has been totalitarian but of a type that even Orwell did not even dream of and we are five minute from midnight.
Regards,
- Louis
Stephen I. Ternyik Thank you very much for the contribution
I agree with you regarding the increase in protectionist and authoritarian tendencies... driven by the growth of populist movements everywhere, taking advantage of people's despair over the conditions created by class policies over several years.
How do you see the prospects for changing the terms of trade exchange in the post-Covid era, sir?
Gayane Hovhannisyan Are there alternatives from your point of view to change the status quo?
Louis Brassard
Dear Louis
Who planned or plans for all this from your point of view? And are there prospects for changing this situation before midnight (as you put it) ?
best regards
othmane
The politization of the virus has reinforced the global tendencies towards protectionism and authoritarianism, which means that the capitalist dynamics is in deep crisis. Russian economists MI. Tugan-Baranovsky and N. Kondratieff pointed to the cyclicity of human-made economic systems and to the key role of free thought and will in economic decision-making, i.e. any human-made system cannot die a natural death (‚palliative economics does not work’), but needs to be re-shaped by macro-prudence and time-tested wisdom, with respect to a win/win/win bargain (tripolar economy), to end the ‚neo-classical‘ model of win/lose accounting (‚Babylonian or Sisyphean economics‘).
https://www.academia.edu/53142508/Next_Generation_Economic_System
https://www.academia.edu/54205654/The_win_win_win_Papakonstantinidis_Model_A_methodical_approach_between_Empathy_and_Conflict_Strategy
Thank you for your interest in my response, Othmane. I agree with Stephen I. Ternyik. The alternative depends on how the constraints among business/power/environment/social culture axiology will be solved. The fact is that the principle of diversity is not equally well practiced in all spheres of our civilized life. I do not exclude the possibility for Economics to adopt an interdisciplinary perspective towards problems like this. Don't you think so?
Gayane Hovhannisyan Yes, the navigation system of economics needs to put the socIetal context into the scientific radar of creative research solutions to meet unmet human needs. The methodical inventory must be developed beyond dual accounting (win/lose), classical mechanics (supply/demand) and outdated maths from the 19th century, due to increased computational power and methodology. Such a natural science of the human economy would include the human mind and society as evolutionary living organisms, shifting from a linear towards a cyclical view of human economic action, with respect to the ‚social physics of economic systems‘=human-made, modifiable by human creative activity, while accepting the limits of nature (natural principles). Simply saying: the economy is not a machine, it is a living organism that has to secure its survival by adaptive learning and cognition (paradigm=life science).
Othmane Touat
https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage_en/93360/Building%20multilateralism%20for%20the%2021st%C2%A0Century
This could be of interest to your query, in terms of political players.
Gayane Hovhannisyan True, and this is the predicament of traditional economics, which was confined to unrealistic theoretical perceptions when projected onto lived reality.
Economists have deprived the science of economics of diversity and benefit from the various sectors of science (whether social, human or natural), forgetting in the first place that the economy is a human activity that affects and is affected by the rest of human activities (thinking, behavior and achievement).
Multilateralism received a grear Shock and setback from the most prominent and leading country that promoted free trade via several rounds of multiletarera trade hegotiations. This country is the US which promoted the new International foreign Exchange and Financial System know as Bretton Woods. This new system was supported by the IMF the World Bank two international Institutions that oversee and support the new system, and the GATT to facilitate trade liberalization.The election of Donald Trump almost destroyed Mutalateralism as he challenged almost every other trade agreement because he believes in bilateralism.
If it was not for the election of Joseph Biden, Multilateralism would had been almost history by now.
George K. Zestos Thank you very much for the valuable share
But don't you think that the threat of multilateralism still exists despite the disappearance of the specter of Trumpism.... especially with the continued recovery of populist movements in other places such as Europe
Dear Otmane Tuat,
I agree the threat of Multilateralism exists because of several countries resistance to multiculturalism. The developed countries always wanted to liberalize trade in manufacturing products but not in agricultural products. The LDCs the opposite.The developed countries slowed down multilateral trade negotiations and the EU was mainly respossble for that. Howver in 1995 under the URUGUAY ROUND OF MULTILATERAL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS EU and other developed countries agreed to begin liberalizing trade in agriculture.
.Because the EU Commission is responsible for the trade negotiations for the entire EU it is easierr to reach agreement instead of having 27 EU countries each negotiating separately.
The Services sector is the last sector that must be liberalized but this is not easy to accomplish, as countries resist for many ressons. Furthermore during recession periods (like now,) trade liberalization is very unlikely to take place as countries during these periods try to support their own national idustries from foreign competition . I hope this helps.
George K Zestos Jean Monett Chair of European Integration,:Specialization :International Economics
Multilaterism exists in both economic and political fields. Multilaterism in politics exists in a covert way. Because of economic reasons political multilateralism is practised in ways that are ambiguous as well as devious and harmful for the nations that are economically weak. However, multilaterism for free and easy terms of trade is welcome for the emerging countries like India. In spite of the economic havoc that many countries are now experiencing and with protectionist measures to safeguard their domestic interests, services can be exchanged with real economic gains. India is open to trade and maintain good relations with all . The resistance in mobility of human capital may seem ominous but I feel that with perseverence this obstacle can be overcome. Mobility of specialised human capital is a phenomena that originated since time immemorial and will continue to do so.The economic needs in the micro level or the macro level is an outcome of natural needs of human beings . Thus in spite of the WTO being reduced to play the role of a dispute settlement organisation, {for various reasons), in present times it will perhaps have to increase its role of promoting multilateral trade --especially so by the Committee on Tra
de and Development.
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1 Recommendation
Martha Pantoja
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
"Multilateral institutions after World War II remain valid today. International cooperation provides venues to resolve differences peacefully; platforms to agree on common rules of the game; mechanisms to better manage international flows; and channels for exchanging ideas, experiences and practices so that countries learn from each other".
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2 Recommendations
George K. Zestos
Christopher Newport University
You may add that trade liberalization via multilateral negitiations has helped million of people all over the world pull out of poverty and this is a great benefit to the world.
However, there was a big cost associated with these benefits.
The cost was enviromental damage and destruction of local cultures that are extremely valuable to the well being of all countries.Kind regards, G K Zestos (specialization international Economics)
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1 Recommendation
Othmane Touat
Algiers 3 University
Swabera Islam Thank you very much for your contribution. It is true that multilateralism exists in all fields, although in the political field it has proven its limitations (such as the United Nations), so it was relied upon in the economic field to reduce the gap between rich and poor countries, but it seems that it also remained hostage to political trends and narrow interests of the dominant state.
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2 Recommendations
Othmane Touat
Algiers 3 University
Martha Pantoja
Theoretically, this is true, what was agreed upon or what was relied upon.
But have these goals been achieved in reality?
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2 Recommendations
Othmane Touat
Algiers 3 University
George K. Zestos
I totally agree with you, sir.
Perhaps one of the current threats to multilateralism is doubts about its benefits or, lets say, its high costs, as you mentioned (environmental and cultural impacts).
It may be necessary to adjust the course to make free trade more environmentally sustainable and more culturally sensitive and protective.
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2 Recommendations
George K. Zestos
Christopher Newport University
I think you are correct, younger people are more sensitive to the protection of the environmet, and governments are finding themselve under much pressure to protect the environment, protect human rights for all people of different religions and cultural backgrounds, women and races.This is the trend. But there are major diruptions such as the election of Donald Trump and the existence of autocratic regimes.
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1 Recommendation
Martha Pantoja
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Othmane:
It´s true a few goals have been achieved with multilateralism and globalization in the world, in many cases in most countries Commercial protection policies and against the migration of people prevail.
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2 Recommendations
Emmanuel V Murray
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
Absolutely. Multilateral organisations today have been a total failure.
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1 Recommendation
Othmane Touat
Algiers 3 University
Emmanuel V Murray What are the alternatives currently available from your point of view?
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3 Recommendations
Subee Subramaniam Palanisamy
South India Krishna Edible Oils & Fat Pty ltd
yes ...multilateralism /globalisation etc ...is in a crisis ....the way it is being approached or rather imposed by the super powers ...is disguised form of coloniasation of the weaker nations ...insteaded of empowering the weak ...the economic power houses are benefiting more at the expense of the smaller nations ....not denying that some 3rd world nations have benefited from multilateralism ....the uthopian free trade world is a long way off.... In the guise of multilatealism ...the developed nations protect themselves with non-tariff barriers and the like policies which puts the poorer /developing nations in a constant debt trap/economic dependence and so on and so forth....
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1 Recommendation
Martha Pantoja
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
t has been widely recognized that the current multilateral system needs to be reformed due to rapid changes in the economic, demographic , social and political weight of advanced and emerging economies. That´s why, the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, United Nations, World Trade Organization they have to adapt to the new international context.
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3 Recommendations
Othmane Touat
Algiers 3 University
Subee Subramaniam Palanisamy thank you
Multilateral trade cooperation under a rules-based system has come under increasing pressure from unilateral actions, countermeasures, trade disputes, bilateral trade deals focused on short-term interests, and circumvention of multilateral processes. This comes at a time when trade and the multilateral trading system at its core were expected to play a major role in global efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
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3 Recommendations
Othmane Touat
Algiers 3 University
Martha Pantoja I completely agree with you
The countries of the world will have to work collectively and in concert to reform the multilateral trading system, whose reform, even before the outbreak of the pandemic, was considered a high priority, but the path was not clear. The economic and social disruptions caused by the pandemic have highlighted this need, while promoting stronger dimensions related to development and the need for a multilateral trading system better able to absorb shocks.
Efforts to overcome the current crisis must go beyond short-term rescue efforts. The various countries of the world and all relevant stakeholders, including international multilateral institutions, must realign the system to work together to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The standards and controls of the global trading system must also be realigned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals, in addition to the two plans related to trade and health.
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4 Recommendations
Amir Karimi
tabriz university
Actually multilateralism is weak because countries want benefits not only security.
After ww2 security was priority but now it is so different. Us can't manage or guide whole the world and now focus on own problems.
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3 Recommendations
Martha Pantoja
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
In international relations, multilateralism refers to an alliance of multiple countries pursuing a common goal. Multilateralism indicates a form of cooperation between at least three countries.
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