Global cooperation under pressure—new report on shaping reforms
Geopolitical rivalry, conflict, authoritarian nationalism and the systematic erosion of rules-based politics are reshaping the global order and putting cooperation under growing pressure. Yet the picture is more nuanced: While disruptive trends dominate the headlines, reforms are taking shape at the same time.
Global cooperation faces mounting pressure due to geopolitical rivalry, conflict and authoritarian nationalism, according to a new report titled "Disruption and Reform: Sustainable Futures at Stake? The Case for Politics of Cooperation and Perseverance" by the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS). While disruptive trends dominate headlines, the report highlights that reforms are also taking shape at the same time.
Drawing on research and knowledge cooperation, the volume examines where cooperation is being adapted and rebuilt, and which actors can drive these reforms. The authors argue that Germany and Europe should not retreat from international cooperation but instead invest in politics of cooperation and perseverance. This involves adapting institutions, building new partnerships, deepening existing ones, and finding practical ways for countries to work together even when consensus is elusive.
The report highlights various areas where collaboration is evolving, including transition, middle-power coalitions, new plurilateral agreements, institutional adaptation, reconfigured partnerships, financing architectures, and new cultures of cooperation. The future of the World Trade Organization (WTO) serves as a case study, illustrating how disruptive change and reform can occur simultaneously.
Despite challenges such as unilateral tariffs and geopolitical competition, 66 WTO members have moved forward with implementing the E-Commerce Agreement outside the formal WTO framework, with the intention of integrating it in the future. Other groups are also advancing agreements on services, investment facilitation, and other issues.
The report suggests that such initiatives could lead to a more flexible, hybrid trading architecture, though it warns that long-term reliance on arrangements outside the WTO could further weaken the multilateral system. Similarly, the report explores cooperation in peace and security, geopolitics, partnerships, Europe's role in the international order, multilateralism and the future of the United Nations, environmental cooperation, development finance, domestic revenue mobilization, global health, artificial intelligence, and transnational knowledge cooperation.
Overall, the authors emphasize that even under mounting pressure, actors are finding innovative ways to sustain and reshape cooperation, aiming to generate reform dynamics that preserve cooperation and enable sustainable futures.
Written by urgent.news from Phys.org's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
