Goodbye or not-so-goodbye?

Goodbye or not-so-goodbye?
11/28

2019. november 28. 16:00

Meeting Room of the Faculty Council

11/28

2019. november 28. 16:00 -

Meeting Room of the Faculty Council


Prof. Niels Blokker (Universiteit Leiden): ‘Goodbye or not-so-goodbye? Withdrawing from international organisations in the age of nationalism and populism’

Date and time: 28 November 2019; 4:00 pm
Venue: Meeting Room of the Faculty Council

Abstract

During and after the Second World War many international organisations have been established. International cooperation was considered to be in the common interest. A growing number of problems could no longer be effectively addressed at the national level only. The UN, the IMF and the World Bank, the Council of Europe, the European Communities and NATO were created, as well as the World Meteorological Organisation, the European Space Agency, the African Union, ASEAN and many other organisations. However, nowadays these structures for international cooperation are increasingly criticised. Political leaders propose to withdraw from international organisations, and sometimes states actually withdraw. Is this not ‘throwing away the baby with the bathwater’? Is there a need to recalibrate multilateralism and ‘update’ international organisations? Professor Blocker shall touch upon these questions in his lecture.

About the Speaker

Niels Blokker was appointed as Professor of International Institutional Law to the 'Schermers Chair' at Leiden University in 2003. Prior he worked as the legal counsel at the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His publications include International Institutional Law (co-authored with the late Henry G. Schermers, 5th edition 2011 and 6th edition November 2018), Proliferation of International Organizations (co-authored with the late Henry G. Schermers, 2000), The Security Council and the Use of Force (co-edited with Nico Schrijver, 2005). He is co-founder and co-editor-in-chief of the journal International Organisations Law Review. His main current research project is about the governance of international courts and tribunals.