A Twenty-First Century Concert of Powers – Promoting Great Power Multilateralism for the Post-Transatlantic Era (original) (raw)

The global distribution of power is changing. The consequences of this change are instabilities and uncertainties in world politics. The current constellation concerning the situation in the Ukraine serves as testimony that great power conflicts are – despite wishful thinking to the contrary – not yet only a thing of the distant past. How can the international society, how can the great powers, their differences and disagreements notwithstanding, prevent the escalation of conflicts and the outbreak of war? More generally, how can they work towards peaceful and constructive solutions for international security governance? A 21st Century Concert of Powers, a new great power based multilateral security institution, could be the timely answer. Based on the norms and practices of the 19th Century "European Concert" but avoiding its shortcomings, a 21st Century Concert, as imagined here, would work largely informally and constitute an effective forum for confidence building, consultation and common preparation of decisions. Given the already tightly institutionalized international order, it would not supersede but complement existing institutions, such as the United Nations. This Policy Paper is the product of a multi-year research project "The Post-Transatlantic Age: A Twenty-First Century Concert of Powers". The project has been conducted by more than 20 researchers from seven different countries. It is funded by the “Europe and Global Challenges” programme, launched by the European foundations Compagnia di San Paolo in Turin, Italy, Riksbankens Jubileumsfond in Stockholm, Sweden, and VolkswagenStiftung in Hanover, Germany.