Multilateralism in Peril

This collaborative work brings together international lawyers and political scientists to explore whether and how the retreat of the US, and the simultaneous rise of China, affect the dynamics of multilateralism to which the EU claims to adhere. It focuses on the trilateral interaction between these three actors and the policy impact their interactions have in specific multilateral settings and examines cooperation, competition and confrontation of these three actors in key international organizations such as the WTO, UNESCO, Human Rights Council and UNCLOS, NATO, the ASEAN Regional Forum and the World Health Organization in times of Covid-19. It also addresses their approaches and attitudes toward international humanitarian norms and the peace process in the Middle-East.

This book offers an insightful exploration of the future of multilateralism under the impact of the Trump administration and probes the future of the liberal international order. It will provide excellent reading material on current affairs for both graduate and undergraduate students in international law and international relations, in particular for courses relating to international organization, multilateralism, or the US, China and the EU in international affairs. For experienced researchers the book proposes in-depth studies that relate to major debates in the disciplines of international law and international relations.

Chien-Huei Wu is a Research Professor, Institute of European and American Studies (IEAS), Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan. He received his PhD in Laws in European University Institute in Florence in 2009. He now coordinates of US-Taiwan-China research group in the IEAS and his research interests cover EU external relations, US-China economic competition, and international economic law. He has been a visiting fellow at Georgetown University, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. and Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public and International Law, Heidelberg. He recently published Law and Politics on Export Restrictions: WTO and Beyond (CUP 2021). He spoke before the European Parliament on the future of EU-Taiwan trade relations in 2019.

Frank Gaenssmantel is Assistant Professor at the Department of International Relations and International Organisation at the University of Groningen since 2010. He previously held a position as Research Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Studies on Contemporary China (Centro di Alti Studi sulla Cina Contemporanea, CASCC) in Turin and taught at the School of Advanced International and Area Studies at East China Normal University in Shanghai. His research interests include European and Chinese foreign policies, China-EU relations, foreign policy analysis, and international trade relations. He received his PhD from the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence.

Francesco Giumelli is Associate Professor in the Department of International Relations and International Organization at the University of Groningen. He was previously Jean Monnet Fellow at the European University Institute and Fellow at the Kroc Institute of Notre Dame University. He is the author of The Success of Sanctions: Lessons Learned from the EU Experience (Routledge, 2013) and Coercing, Constraining and Signalling: Explaining UN and EU Sanctions After the Cold War (ECPR Press, 2011). He published on sanctions, private military, and security companies in the Journal of Common Market Studies, International Affairs, International Relations and International Peacekeeping. Beyond his work on sanctions, Francesco studies issues concerning the role of private actors in security and illicit trade.