ABSTRACT

This collaborative work brings together international lawyers and political scientists to explore whether and how the retreat of the US, and the simultaneous rise of China, affect the dynamics of multilateralism to which the EU claims to adhere. It focuses on the trilateral interaction between these three actors and the policy impact their interactions have in specific multilateral settings and examines cooperation, competition and confrontation of these three actors in key international organizations such as the WTO, UNESCO, Human Rights Council and UNCLOS, NATO, the ASEAN Regional Forum and the World Health Organization in times of Covid-19. It also addresses their approaches and attitudes toward international humanitarian norms and the peace process in the Middle-East.

This book offers an insightful exploration of the future of multilateralism under the impact of the Trump administration and probes the future of the liberal international order. It will provide excellent reading material on current affairs for both graduate and undergraduate students in international law and international relations, in particular for courses relating to international organization, multilateralism, or the US, China and the EU in international affairs. For experienced researchers the book proposes in-depth studies that relate to major debates in the disciplines of international law and international relations.

chapter |18 pages

Introduction

Conceptualising Multilateralism amidst Shifting Relations between the United States, the European Union and China

part 1|88 pages

Global Multilateralism: The UN, Its Specialised Agencies and Related Regimes

part 2|84 pages

Multilateral Structures for Economic, Social and Environmental Cooperation

part 3|84 pages

Multilateralism and Regional Security

chapter 10|17 pages

All Dressed up with Nowhere to Go

The ASEAN Regional Forum, Major Power Disinterest and the Limits of Multilateral Security Cooperation in East Asia

chapter 11|17 pages

Sticking to the Big Brother

An Analysis of the EU's Response to Revitalised US-North Korea Relations

chapter 12|16 pages

Failing Forward

US Withdrawal and the Increasing Role of the EU and China vis-à-vis the Iran Nuclear Deal

chapter |13 pages

Conclusion

Multilateralism in Peril?