In the context of the 11th Edition of the Diplomacy Festival, an initiative born in 2009 from the awareness of the centrality of Rome in the framework of international relations and which took place this year in a completely digital way, Ambassador Sebastiani introduced the conference “The South – East passage. The age of hybrid systems and the crisis of multilateralism “, broadcast in live streaming on the channel https://diplomacy2020.it/canale-4/.
This panel, moderated by Silvia Scarpa, Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the John Cabot University in Rome, has seen the interventions of: Roberta Gatti, Chief Economist, Human Development, World Bank Group; Domenico G. Fanizza, Executive Director, International Monetary Fund; Fr. Augusto Zampini, Adjunct Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
We are living in an era of great transition, defined by some commentators as “The Era of Chaos”: the paradigms of the world economy seem ineffective and unsuitable for creating sufficient and decent jobs, as well as preventing the polarization of wealth. In this context, the framework of the international system and the multilateral organizations set up in the immediate second post-war period seem increasingly weakened by the advance of the re-nationalization of policies, trade disputes and the shift in the world balance towards the East.
However, multilateralism remains the most suitable instrument for guaranteeing the democratic nature of the international system and for its ability to address multiple global challenges (for example climate change, forced migration, poverty, inequalities and especially the Covid-19 pandemic). Italy and the Holy See, as well as many other countries, share the same concern about the constant progressive weakening of multilateralism: we think that it is important to reverse this trend if we want to overcome all kinds of inequality and exploitation, build a fairer society and create a human economy that benefits everyone and respects the environment.
Hence, the panel has been an opportunity for an open discussion aimed at discovering which actions and initiatives are most suitable for making multilateralism stronger, more inclusive and more responsive to contemporary and emerging challenges.
The recording of the conference is visible by clicking here.
