A panel discussion presented by the Marc Bloch Center, the Alliance Program, and Deutsches Haus, Columbia University.

Recorded on 16 September 2026 at the Deutsches Haus at Columbia University

With Elizabeth N. Saunders (Columbia University), Jean-Marie Guéhenno (SIPA, Columbia University), Tim Heinkelmann-Wild (LMU Munich, EUI)

Moderator: Emmanuel Kattan (Columbia University)

The world order that emerged out of World War II helped affirm the power of diplomacy and the need to uphold international law. But it wasn’t perfect. Countries in the Global South did not always reap the benefits of the multilateral system, which often favored the most powerful countries. Today, the post-World War II order is cracking at the seams and we are experiencing a return to power politics and a „might is right“ ideology. While many support some of the achievements of the past decades—international collaboration that led to advances in science, health, human rights, gender equality, and socio-economic development—trust in the institutions and the global architecture behind this progress is waning.

What is left of multilateralism, and can it be reinvented? Is the current geopolitical and economic fragmentation inevitable? Will international cooperation give way to a patchwork of regional coalitions and issue-specific alliances, or can new forms of global governance emerge? Could coalitions of middle powers help shape a more stable and more equitable international order?

In order to examine these questions and to cast not only the future of multilateralism but also the historical foundations upon which it still rests, the Alliance Program and the Centre Marc Bloch are bringing together a transatlantic panel of experts.

Hébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

For the last conference of our cycle Israel, Palestine and European Societies, we wanted to address what may at first glance sound as a counterintuitive perspective on the israeli-palestinian conflict namely the question of ethics (and the role. of international humanitarian law and international courts) and mediation in times of war. By mediation we referred not only to political mediation (hostages, cease fire, humanitarian aid) but also social mediation at different levels including civil society actors involved in peace and dialogue initiatives.

The panel gathered three internationally recognized experts from different disciplinary horizons, with both an academic and practitioner perspective in the practice of international negotiation and mediation:

Valérie Rosoux is a political scientist and IR specialist, Director of Research at the National Fund for Scientific Research and Professor at the University of Louvain in Belgium. She is the author of "How to Not Mediate Conflict", International Affairs 98: 5 (2022) 1717–1735 and "Israeli and Palestinian Stories. Can Mediators Reconfigure Incompatible Narratives?", Global Policy, 10:2 (2019)

Rudolf Schüßler is a professor in moral philosophy at the University of Bayreuth in Germany. He is the author of Focal Points in Negotiation, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019, co-ed. with Jan-Willem van der Rijt,

Charles Tenenbaum, is an associate professor in political science and IR at Sciences Po Lille in France. He is the author of "Mediation by Intergovernmental Organizations" in Guillaume Devin (ed.), Making Peace, Palgrave MacMillan, 2012 and "Mapping the engagement of religious actors with international organizations" in Bob Reinalda and Marieke Louis (eds.), Routledge Handbook of International Organization, Routledge, 2024.

Hébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.