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From dr. Jasna Plevnik’s speech:

The international relations in next decade should not stay the same but should not be changed through confrontation and chaos and here lies the crux of the matter. 

No consent among global powers on new measures and policies for the further democratisation of the international relations

Today there is no consent among global powers on new measures and policies for the further democratisation of relations among states and other foreign policy actors. And even theories of international relations have become somehow weaker to theorise the future of international relations staying captivated between liberal and realistic patterns.

The idea that democracy should prevail in the relations among states and that the world should be as one family has been embraced by the United Nations and the Non-aligned Movement, the largest grouping of states after the UN. That vision of the world as one family is close to China’s concept for the world community of shared future for mankind presented in the United Nations in 2015, and 2017. That concept embodies China's willingness to work with other countries on evolution of international relations and their emancipation from power politics how the world become more dependent on interest of the humanity and more democratic.

Unquestionably, the democratisation of international relations has been accelerated by the post-cold war global forums, groups, and models of cooperation such as the G-20, the BRICS, the Belt and Road Initiative, and with many free trade agreements and new financial global institutions like AIIB and the New Development Bank.

Anti- democratic moments

On the other side in last three decades there have been many anti-democratic moments in the international relations. the UN’s role, and the Charter’s principles have been challenged again and again. Perhaps the most disturbing anti- democratic moments in the recent history of international relations happened from 2017 to 2020, when the USA rejected to comply with the norms set  by itself and exposed no trust in the UN, the WTO, Paris climate agreement, Iran nuclear agreement, and the WHO governance in the Covid-19 crisis 

The new US Administration has back to cooperation with international organisations, to multilateralism but also continues with the previous Administration policy of competition and provocation focused on global power China explaining its development as a threat to the world, though here is actually more about  the future of US global domination. Today the USA antagonistic approach is directed towards China, tomorrow it could be some other country.

The rise of the competition between great powers

The current international relations are getting more competitive and discording and tense. It is America that encourages rise of the competition between great powers. U.S. competition with China is visible globally in the areas of geopolitics, economy, and high technology. America encourages geopolitical competition regionally and in Asia-Pacific forming new alliances and restored old groups to counter China’s economic growth and global influence. 

Competition is not a bad thing in itself but America’s  style of competition  does not appear managed in responsible way but more anti- democratic one and stands as a significant challenge to the world peace, China's global role, and Washington’s   traditional strategic allies’ national interests.

Hopefully there are some new and positive moments in this America’s competition policy towards China. United States does not want total competition with China and  counts on close cooperation in some areas of international relations, like is the fight against climate change. Even this “ala carte multilateralism” and cooperation is better than absolute competition. Recently signed agreement between the US and China to work together on cutting emissions has been globally welcomed. This agreement could be seen as a child of the  “ala carte multilateralism”Recently the USA and the EU have decided to compete with China’s Belt and Road Initiative diplomacy. What is good! The G-7 will compete with a project t ‘Build Back Better World (B3W) and the European Union with its new Global Gateway connectivity strategy. Because both strategies mimic the Belt and Road there are many serious reasons that projects be implemented in synergy with the Belt and Road at least within “ala carte multilateralism” approach.

At the moment the United States has no global and comprehensive concept for democratisation of the global and regional relations so its role in the world should be stronger  influenced by other global powers and the international political and economic institutions. Maybe it is too early to claim that, but it appears that no global power or global institutions have tried to openly challenge America's global policy that uses anti-China policy, produces anti-China atmosphere, the pandemic and slowing of the economic globalisation to dominate the world. In America’s confrontational agenda towards China the health crisis has been perceived as an unexpected opportunity for obstructing China’s growth and supporting new economic nationalism in America and other developed countries. 

To be stable and prosperous the world needs development sharing, data sharing, global standards, global technological infrastructure. Global cooperation and connectivity are the only way to transform conflicting relations among states and stop trend of decay of democracy in relations among states. Thank you for your kind attention.

 A video recording of Jasna Plevnik's speech is available at https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-12-14/Croatian-expert-U-S-leads-anti-democratic-moments-in-intl-relations-15Zq6dp5o9G/index.html