Global Memos

After a tumultuous 2016, the world holds its breath for what the coming year may bring. Angry populism is on the march. Great power relations are tense. The Middle East has imploded. Meanwhile, President-Elect Donald J. Trump proposes to upend U.S. foreign policy in areas from trade to climate, alliances to nonproliferation, terrorism to human rights. In a world in disarray, can multilateralism deliver? Ten major summits during 2017 will help provide an answer. Here’s what to look for at each summit.

Council of Councils members offer their perspectives on the impact of President-Elect Trump on global cooperation and some advice for the incoming administration.  

Ahead of the eighth annual Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC), Oliver Meier of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs assesses the remaining challenges that threaten to undermine international norms against the use of bioweapons, outlines the diverging visions for the BWC, and provides recommendations for how to move forward.

Dozens of wildlife species are endangered, pushed ever closer to extinction by habitat loss and illegal trade. Unfortunately, limiting trade in wild animals and plants can be a contentious process that depends as much on politics as on science. Romy Chevallier and Ross Harvey of SAIIA explain how the debate over elephant conservation elucidates this difficulty and helps demonstrate both how the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora could function better and what could be done to reconcile conflicting positions. 

The Hague’s Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling on the South China Sea dispute has left many wondering what the next moves might be for the various stakeholders. Euan Graham of the Lowy Institute for International Policy assesses the legal and strategic factors that will shape this contentious issue going forward, including possible areas for fostering cooperation.

Igor Yurgens of Russia’s Institute for Contemporary Development explains the domestic forces shaping Russia’s stance towards NATO, and, bearing these domestic considerations in mind, maps out a path for a détente between the two. 

Steven Blockmans and Michael Emerson of the Centre for European Policy Studies assess consequences of a British exit and concludes that a "Brexit" could have serious ramifications for not just the United Kingdom, but also the European Union as a whole. 

Japan is hosting the Group of Seven (G7) Ise-Shima Summit on May 26 and 27. Mr. Yasushi Kudo of The Genron NPO outlines some priorities for G7 leaders to discuss.

The effectiveness of the EU-Turkey deal hinges on its implementation and leaves Greece to overcome a “Herculean task.” Silvia Colombo, Senior Fellow at the Institute of International Affairs, outlines the moral and practical challenges of this deal. 

Many believe the war on drugs has failed. At the upcoming United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on the world drug problem, prohibitionist supporters will be confronted by a highly motivated block of Latin American states advocating for regulation and harm reduction strategies. Dr. Jorge Chabot, associate at the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations, says if the global drug regime doesn’t abandon prohibition, it just may fall apart.