Why a Strengthened Multilateral Security System is Needed: Built for a different age, different threats, and a different balance of world power, our current multilateral system does not fully meet today’s global security challenges, ranging from climate change and nuclear proliferation to civil strife and terrorism. No nation, including the United States, can insulate itself from these threats nor solve these transborder problems alone.
MGI’s Goal: The Brookings Institution, Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation, and New York University’s Center on International Cooperation are undertaking a joint project entitled Managing Global Insecurity (MGI). The goal of MGI is to provide recommendations and generate political momentum for the next American president, the United Nations, and key international partners to launch a strategic effort to revitalize the multilateral security system in 2009. The MGI Project will build international support for global institutions and partnerships that can foster international peace and security — and the prosperity they enable — for the next 50 years.
American and International Leadership: MGI is soliciting feedback from policymakers and experts in the U.S. and internationally to reflect a broad spectrum of perspectives in MGI’s recommendations. A successful effort to strengthen the multilateral security system will require a shared vision that reflects diverse regional priorities. Recognizing that U.S. support will be essential, MGI will demonstrate not only the limits of unilateralism, but that an effective multilateral security architecture is vital to protect U.S. national security interests. Themes from consultations abroad regarding an appropriate U.S. role in a reform agenda will be reflected back to U.S. policymakers.
PROJECT APPROACH
U.S. and International Consultation and Outreach: Through a series of workshops with experts and policymakers and consultations with key governments, MGI is developing proposed principles that must underpin a multilateral reform agenda as well as threat-specific recommendations for a strengthened multilateral response. Focus areas include global climate change and energy security, nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, conflict management, counter-terrorism, biosecurity, and development.
MGI has convened an Advisory Group of distinguished U.S. and international figures who help shape project recommendations and establish links to policymakers and opinion leaders. MGI is conducting a series of Advisory Group meetings, focus groups, Congressional outreach sessions, consultations with U.S. presidential campaigns, briefings with U.N. ambassadors, and regional meetings in capitals around the world to generate discussion and debate.
MGI Products: A major new book along with complementary policy briefs on the project’s recommendations will be released in 2008. The project has also commissioned leading experts to write case studies on countries and issues of major importance to global security and to evaluate the performance of multilateral institutions and American policymaking in addressing those cases. Products and networks developed by MGI will create momentum toward a strategic effort in 2009 to build a more robust and effective multilateral security system.