This issue of Panorama: Insights into Asian and European Affairs addresses multilateral cooperation of global interest, looking at the COVID-19 pandemic and country studies in Asia and Europe with implications for regional and international security as well as assessing challenging multilateral collaborations in both regions on a case-by-case basis.
The publication begins with an analysis of the largest global multilateral organisation – the United Nations – and how it is caught in the rivalry for hegemony between the United States of America and China. Undoubtedly a subject of concern for all member countries of the United Nations. The second article elaborates on the role of global politics in global health management, with reference to the World Health Organisation and explains why the global COVID-19 pandemic, in which collective action was essential, did not bring countries together. The next article portrays how global politics affect regional organisations. In this case, the EU’s immigration policy is examined and how it has changed in light of the Russian war against Ukraine. The article on AUKUS provides counterproof of the argument that multilateralism is dead by mapping the security risks in the region, the dynamics that led to the recent formation of AUKUS, its impact and the reactions by governments around the world. The next two articles are dedicated to ASEAN and its handling of two crises: Firstly, the regional organisation’s handling of the military coup in Myanmar and how its actions are constrained by its own principles and as well as China’s role in the conflict. Secondly, the ASEAN health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and how the region as a whole – or rather the member countries separately – dealt with it. The seventh article takes stock of the Western state-building efforts in Afghanistan and incisively asks whether the liberal international order has finally collapsed. The author of the subsequent looks at Taiwan and assesses the losses for the global community as a result of excluding it from multilateral fora. The second-last article explores the development of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue and what its future holds for ASEAN and the wider region. Lastly, the issue ends with how it started – China's influence. This time by looking at the Mekong, which is the lifeline for roughly 260 million people and the multilateral cooperation efforts attempting to solve the Mekong region’s many challenges.
With a wealth of Asian and European perspectives on multilateralism, this Panorama issue provides insights on each region’s own attempts and struggles to find joint solutions for common challenges. Additionally, it also becomes very clear that Asia and Europe are linked through multilateral cooperation and overlapping interests, which will likely grow stronger in the years ahead.
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