Discussion around Frank Vibert’s new book: Comity: Multilateralism in the New Cold War.

The book depicts a new Cold War between democracies and authoritarian countries. The fundamentally different values they embed in the way they approach government and policymaking means that the task of making fully international rules of behaviour has become almost impossible. The meagre results from COP26 and the indefinite postponement of the 2021 WTO Ministerial meeting illustrate this problem. As the main way out of deadlock, the book explores the role of like-minded democratic countries in taking the lead in making international rules. Will it lead to further conflict? Is it a legitimate approach?

Speakers:

Paul Craig (Commentator): Emeritus Professor of English Law, St John’s College, Oxford University. He has written extensively on constitutional law, administrative law, EU law and comparative administrative law.

Richard Caplan (Commentator): Professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford. His research is concerned principally with international organizations and conflict management. He is the author, most recently, of Measuring Peace: Principles, Practices and Politics (Oxford University Press). Unfortunately, due to our technical problem, professor Caplan couldn’t join the discussion. Read his written book comment | Beyond Comity: The Complexity of Global Governance.

Denis Galligan (Moderator): OXGS Director. Emeritus Professor of Socio-Legal Studies, Oxford University.