Ordem Internacional e Multilateralismo

The European Union and the New Multilateralism, por Álvaro de Vasconcelos

This chapter focuses on Europe’s role in shaping a post-hegemonic world order. Europe’s vision of world order and its role within it are both influenced by its own integration. Knowing whether the EU will assert itself as a central power comparable to the US, or if it will become a qualitatively different actor, is a key issue when attempting to outline the future of the international system. The question, therefore, is whether the EU can introduce a common project for a new multilateralism, or if it will remain, from a political and a hard security point of view, a regional actor. Simultaneously, one must also ascertain what role regional groups, such as Mercosul, can play according to a European vision of the world system. Of course, the feasibility of a new order will largely depend on the evolution of US foreign policy in the post-Clinton era.