First of all, I want to thank our hosts for their hospitality and the excellent organization of this important event.
It is so nice to be here in the beautiful country of Kazakhstan. But it is also very nice and useful to have the opportunity to exchange opinions and views with other participants on some key issues of the modern world.
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In the past
several decades, especially after the Cold War, we have lived in the
world of globalization
where multilateralism is
one of the
prerogatives of international relations and actions, not
only to achieve cooperation, but also to address various challenges and threats.
In this new
pattern all the
actors of international
relations, be it states or other entities, are strongly oriented towards
each other
and are highly interdependent. And this
is something that certainly
never
existed in earlier periods of human history.
It is quite
logical that in such circumstances multilateralism has become a standard of communication and action in the modern
world. And It is
also logical that it has created “new rules of the game” that must be respected
by all. But in reality this is not always the case which leads to the situation
where multilateral
structures become a tool or an instrument for realizing the interests
and selfish goals of small number of
countries who possess superior economic, political or military power.
And let’s be
honest to say that some major crises in the world have occured due to the inability of multilateralism to solve accumulated regional or global problems.
The policy of power or force on one side and
the policy of democratic
multilateralism, on the other one, represent two opposite mutually irreconcilable
poles.
We
have learned so far that functional
multilateralism cannot
exist without a proper environment = that is a system of multipolar balance of power, where no actor or group of actors will be able to impose
their own rules and attitudes on others and where
the level of mutual respect and communication is much higher than is the case
nowadays.
Therefore, in this globalized world, it is necessary to more sincerely
return to a wider universal platform, while at the same time nourishing all regional forms of cooperation.
But evidently, the UN as the global
platform has encountered numerous problems in fulfilling its own mission and
basic function.Now it is more obvious than ever that
there is no "International
community" as a real collective category. The
atmosphere within the global or international frame is too divisive for it to
be seen as a uniform collective body.
But if we really
want to consolidate the collective multilateral structures then it is necessary for certain actors to give up the policy of force. Obviously
international relations are militarized and in order to overcome such a
situation the concept of dialogue and diplomatic efforts needs to be
revitalized .
This means indivuidual states must not use or misuse the regional or global
structures to impose their own interests on the others.
I come from a country which is a perfect example of how multilateral
structures have been misused by some countries in order to manipulate the
implementation of an international treaty that established peace and
constitutional order in BiH.
Following the war in BiH (1992 – 1995) and based on the above treaty the
OHR was established to facilitate and coordinate some aspects of the post war
processes. Contrary to the initial purpose and by acting beyond their mandate
these foreign diplomats acting as HRs have turned into rulers who have usurped
the competencies of our domestic institutions and have imposed numerous pieces
of legislation, amended entities constitutions and even dismissed elected
officials from office all by decree and without any due process. Their
continued presence and the powers they illegaly excercise have created a
situation where BiH is treated as a colony.
Therefore
international structures and organizations must not serve as a playground of
the “big ones”. If we speak about partnership then it should be partnership for
all not partnership for one or several at the expense of all the others.
In the past decades we have seen many situations where one actor or a group of actors have tried to format the whole world in accordance with their own
interests and goals.
Great powers, as a rule, behave as superior and act from the position of dominance.
Thus, the key responsibility for the current
state of affairs
in the world, and for
the fate of multilateralism, lies with those who act from the
position of power. By doing so they
may endanger and eventually completely ruin the major principles of
multilateralism. On the other side,
small or less powerful countries are far more ready for dialogue.
What we can see
within the multilateral structures nowadays is far from shared values or common
interests.
That is why the
international structures and organizations must be redesigned in such a way
that they ensure equality of all
actors.
Sadly, double
standards and hypocrisy are part of many multilateral processes of today.
The evident
failure of the multilateral geopolitical concept does not necessarily mean that
we should give up all the forms of multilateralism. It would be very dangerous
even to think that international cooperation and multilateral approaches are no
longer needed. On the contrary they are very much needed, but the current
multilateral system should be rehauled and re-energized in order to address the
complexities of a rapidly changing world.
Obviously a new
rational and realistic agenda is needed to gather all the actors together
within multilateral structures of the future otherwise multilateralism will end
up in complete anarchy. And this is exactly what we need to avoid.