ИСТИНА

75 years ago, the leaders of the governments of the Soviet Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom in the framework of the Yalta and Potsdam conferences defined a new world order for the post-war period, including the creation of the United Nations as an international peacekeeping organization. At that time, they were able to work together to create a successful mechanism for global multilateral cooperation. To this day, the UN remains the only organization of its kind. Key to its successful creation was countries’ willingness to move forward and to put aside their ideological, political and economic differences for a higher purpose. Today, the world faces instability and increasing global threats, stemming from information warfare, synthetic biology, artificial intelligence, and above all the failure to combat climate change. The COVID-19 pandemic hit the world’s system and marks a new milestone in the history of humanity. 75 years after the end of WW2, we see a lack of trust and inability to cooperate effectively, which gives rise to the question of whether current international relations protocols remain fit for purpose. Or does the world need to consider new models to be better equipped to address the challenges of tomorrow? In the last few years, we have seen more and more countries putting their own national interests first. We have seen this in the US under the current administration. And it was a contributing force towards Brexit in the UK. In the modern interconnected world, can or should the process of globalization be stopped? Can or should it be adapted? In the current crisis, we are seeing the role of nation-states increasing in societies around the world, which creates an opportunity (or indeed imperative) for the world to get back to the table to talk about how globalization can be made to work for everyone and how to achieve a shared commitment to overcoming poverty and inequality. Today we face the problem of leaders who are increasingly following the ideology of exclusivity and superiority. This raises the question of what kind of “leadership” the world actually needs. Does the world need a new type of international leadership that will better reflect the interests of the emerging world in Asia and Africa, and help to avoid future global threats. Is now the time to rethink the multilateral institutions such as the UN? What can be an effective roadmap towards a new model of social-economic development?