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Event Summary – The Future of Multilateralism: A View from the UN

The latest luncheon in our Transatlantic Global Agenda Series was held on Thursday, December 8^th, 2016. American Friends of Bucerius and American Council on Germany are partners in organizing these discussions, which are sponsored by Alston & Bird. The series focuses on examining internationally significant issues with expert speakers. This latest installment was a consideration of the future of multilateralism from the perspective of the United Nations, with guest speaker Ambassador Heiko Thoms, Deputy Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations.

According to Ambassador Thoms, 2015 was a great year for multilateralism, with nations coming together to agree on agendas for positive global change, from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to the Paris Agreement for climate change. But the step after agreement is implementation, and 2016 has introduced enough turbulence into the global community that the future of multilateralism is rife with uncertainty. The United Kingdom left the European Union, bringing into question the traditional collaborations within the UN as well. The result of the US election was a surprise to many, with President-elect Donald Trump presenting many possibilities for disruption of the United Nations’ status quo. And the UN itself is facing a change in leadership as António Guterres will come in to succeed Ban Ki-moon as Secretary General in 2017.

These events mark a period of uncertainty for the UN in terms of accomplishing the multilateral goals that have been set in the past years. Ambassador Thoms offered his hypotheses and hopes for how events may unfold. Based on President Elect Trump’s previous statements, the US is likely to be less engaged in the United Nations than it was under President Obama’s administration. This would put both the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement in danger. In turn, China’s involvement in the UN may increase. In the coming years, it will be important for Europeans to work together and for the US to remain involved with the UN if previous agreements are to be implemented.