Six challenges for the social sciences: multilateral governance
Since WWII, the multilateral order has been comprised of a set of institutions built by the victors of that war. Never perfect, the postwar multilateral order is now under severe strain and arguably collapsing.
The return of competitive geopolitics, great power rivalry, economic nationalism, and regional wars has eroded the legitimacy and functionality of the existing multilateral order. Domestically, publics that once viewed multilateral institutions as essential to national security, economic growth, and collective problem solving (e.g. nuclear proliferation, global health) now worry about the ‘sovereignty costs’ of global governance. In many countries, multilateralism and international law are framed by populists as a betrayal by "globalists" who prioritise transnational rules over the concerns of ordinary citizens. At a time of increasing international fragmentation, can the existing multilateral order be repaired to make it more representative and effective in managing the global challenges of the 21st century? If so, where will the political impetus for institutional reform come from? If not, can new types of international institutions and forms of cooperation among states be built, and what should these look like? This panel of international experts will discuss the sources of the crisis in multilateralism and how to revive and reinvigorate international cooperation and collective problem solving in an era of global fragmentation.
Meet our speakers and chair
Mona Paulsen is an Assistant Professor at LSE Law School. An expert in international economic law, she researches and writes on economic security policies, the scope and breadth of security exceptions, the intersection of trade and national security interests, and the law, politics, and history of the multilateral trading, financial, and investment law systems. Ongoing research examines how trade rules and frameworks can help address real-world challenges, particularly those related to economic security risk management, selective discrimination, trade diversification, and legal predictability and stability amid extreme uncertainty and technology-driven change.
Anne-Marie Slaughter is a legal scholar, political scientist and author who is now joining LSE as Dean of the School of Public Policy. She was previously President and CEO of New America; Dean of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs from 2002-2009; and Professor of International Law at Harvard Law School from 1994-2002. She has also served as director of policy planning for the US State Department under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and as president of the American Society of International Law, 2002-04.
Peter Trubowitz is Professor of International Relations, and Director of the Phelan US Centre at LSE, Associate Fellow at Chatham House, Royal Institute of International Affairs, and the Lester Crown Senior Nonresident Fellow of US Foreign Policy at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. His main research and teaching interests are in the fields of international security and US foreign policy. His most recent publication is Rethinking the 1990s: Liberal World Order Building in the Aftermath of the Cold War (Oxford 2025).
Larry Kramer has been President and Vice Chancellor of LSE since April 2024. A constitutional scholar, university administrator, and philanthropic leader, he was previously the President of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Dean of Stanford Law School.
More about this event
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This event is hosted by the Department of International Relations.
Other events in the series are on 18 January, 8 February, 22 February, 1 March and 8 March.
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