Morning Multilateralism
Monday, July 20 2020
The European Union struggled to agree on the next stage of its coronavirus recovery plan. During the deliberations, familiar battle lines reformed between northern European “frugals” and others in the bloc. The Guardian offered this assessment:
Leaving Brussels empty-handed would…be a damaging political blow, tarnishing the EU’s prestige and raising questions about its ability to act in a crisis. It would also undermine the newish leaders of the EU institutions, European commission president Ursula von der Leyen, the architect of the recovery plan, as well the European Council president, Charles Michel, the main deal broker.
The eight candidates to lead the World Trade Organization have completed an initial round of consultations with member states and with the media. Through September 7, the candidates will be engaged in the second stage of the process—informal consultations with WTO members. As J.P. Singh points out, Kenya’s Amina Mohamed and Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala may have the advantage of being palatable to both the United States and China. A Bloomberg analysis declares Mohamed an early frontrunner in the race, noting her significant trade experience:
She checks many of the boxes that delegates say they are looking for in the next WTO director-general, a job never held by a woman. She’s a former WTO ambassador, an ex-trade minister and a previous chair of a WTO ministerial conference. She’s fluent in the WTO’s procedures and legal texts and she personally helped negotiate the WTO’s most recent package of multilateral agreements.
Chinese diplomats across the globe are pushing back against sharp new U.S. criticisms of its South China Sea policies. Beijing’s envoy in London urged the British not to “gang up” with the United States by dispatching an aircraft carrier to the region. And China’s embassy in Malaysia defended the legal merits of China’s position, insisting that its policies are compatible with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and insisting that the international tribunal exceeded its authority by ruling on the dispute. The embassy spokesperson also alleged hypocrisy, noting the U.S. failure to ratify the Law of the Sea Convention:
[A] certain country declines to join the Convention and eludes the responsibilities set forth in the Convention, yet somehow it quotes the Convention all the time, urging the Chinese side to accept and recognise the Arbitration in 2016. The legal norms are only part of the tools used by this country, out of its self-interest, rather than a desire to uphold the Convention and international justice.
Several Israeli news outlets are noting with relief that the judges at the International Criminal Court have entered their summer recess without issuing a ruling on the Palestine situation. Via the Jerusalem Post:
The International Criminal Court’s pre-trial chamber broke for its summer recess Friday without issuing a jurisdictional ruling on its ability to hear war crimes suits regarding the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem.The ICC does not resume its judicial work until August 13.Speculation was high last week that it might issue a jurisdictional ruling prior to going on summer recess. But as of Saturday night no such ruling had been published.
Very briefly noted:
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged a “new social contract” in the wake of the pandemic.
The Organization of American States meets this week to consider the electoral crisis in Guyana.
Russia’s ambassador to the United Kingdom dismissed the notion that Moscow is seeking to undermine the UK’s place on the UN Security Council.
The European Union begins public consultations on its Arctic policy.
The African Union will hold a “mini-summit” this week in another attempt to resolve tensions created by Ethiopia’s dam project.
Candace Rondeaux considers how Libya’s proxy war is testing the NATO alliance.