Are we living in the age of multilateralism or is political behaviour, which puts the national interest first, rising? With Covid-19 we have seen how vulnerable our world today is and answers for common challenges are not easily obtained. With its rapid development and territorial disputes, cooperation and conflict in Asia influences stability and development not only in its own but also in other regions such as Europe. Multilateralism in Asia is a known, however, not in all aspects a convincing concept. With the SOA, SAARC or ASEAN, to name three regional organisations in Asia, we face different levels of integration. With China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” and India’s “Act East Policy” the two big players in Asia have issued strategies which aim to shape the order in Asia. Multilateralism could be one of the tools used to implement these grand schemes.
The interests of Germany in the region have been defined in the “Policy guidelines for the Indo-Pacific” which promote a multilateral approach for common challenges, underlined by the recent statement of J. Borrell that “the EU needs a strategic approach for the Indo-Pacific”.
The seminar will analyse the understanding of multilateralism in Asia. Do common challenges like pandemics, climate change or sustainable growth change the way we look at multilateralism or are lowest common denominators the future of multilateralism? Can multilateral agreements help to unleash unused potential, to align diverging interests and to overcome existing conflicts? How do grand-strategies like the “Belt and Road Initiative” and the “Act East Policy” change the way international cooperation works? And finally, how does Europe fit into this pattern?