Strategic Comments

Strategic Annual Report 2021
"The Revival and Challenges of Multilateralism"

02-25-2022
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Multilateralism, which was in a critical state in 2020, was revived by the new US administration of President Joe Biden pursuing a policy of returning to international organizations and agreements and taking the lead in multilateral international collaboration and policy coordination. Concrete progress was made in areas such as the international taxation, but the effectiveness of multilateralism remains to be questioned. As the world continues to be deeply affected by the coronavirus pandemic, progress has been slow in supplying vaccines to developing countries although the United States has taken a leading role in frameworks such as COVAX, highlighting the North-South vaccine disparity. In the area of climate change, some headway was made at COP26, including coordination between the United States and China, but strengthening efforts to achieve the 1.5 degree target remains a major issue.