Common Humanity in a Troubled World

Part 3 of Rules-Based Order: Rhetoric or Reality?

This is the last part of our series on the Rules-Based Order: Rhetoric or Reality after Diplosphere’s event of the same name of Feb 27th, 2024. Herein you’ll find the panel Q&A, closing remarks, as well as contributions from the floor from Sir Kenneth Keith - New Zealand judge who served nine years on the International Court of Justice through 2015, and Heidi Coetzee - Chief Executive of Save the Children NZ.

Sir Ken Keith speaking while Dr Rouzbeh Parsi listens in from Sweden via Zoom

You can read Diplosphere’s notes and listen to the speakers below.

The panellists were: The Rt Hon Jim Bolger, former New Zealand Prime Minister; Ömür Ünsay, Turkish Ambassador, served in Egypt, Russia, the EU; Elizabeth Longworth, Chair UNESCO NZ National Commission; Viktor Vavricka, Swiss Ambassador, served in Bangkok, Berlin, the Occupied Palestinian Territory; Dr Rouzbeh Parsi, Head of the Middle East and North Africa Programme, Swedish Institute of International Affairs

Chaired by: Maty Nikkhou-O'Brien, Co-founder & Executive Director, Diplosphere

Question & Answers

The panel was posed six pointed questions from the floor on a wide range of topics: BRICs as a substitute for the UN, private military contractors, the response options available to Israel, Sweden’s ascension into NATO, AI & diplomacy, and finally the threat posed by climate change.

On BRICs … it is very far removed from being a substitute for the UN, two panelists concurred:

BRICS is working insofar that it is working because it's not expecting much of its members and it's not demanding much of its members. […] an attempt to signal the willingness and ability to be on their own and build something of their own. But to replace what we have, no matter how malfunctioning it might be, is something that is very far down the road

On military contracts and interference by private multinationals in states’ affairs:

the only thing we can count on is something, a document, this Montreux document that I referred to, which clarifies which are the international legal obligations of states when it comes to the use of such companies [..] I guess the answer is there is no international law available to specifically prohibit the use of private management security companies. And probably that's the problem, you know, the state monopoly on the use of violence has been breached so many times already.

A panelists replied to a question on options available for Israel in response to one of the worst attacks on Israel in its history:

I should reflect on the opening statement here by the lady at the back about the innocent children who have been slaughtered. If that's the answer to anything, then I know nothing. And while everyone can understand the history of Israel, that doesn't justify killing innocent children.

On Sweden joining NATO and the loss of neutrality:

I think neutrality in the long run would have been a more important value to uphold. I understand the defence needs of Sweden after the illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia, definitely [..] it showed, beyond the merits of being a member or not being a member, is that the Swedish political class panicked

The Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator was mentioned during the talk with regards to AI & diplomacy.

Heidi Coetzee, Save the Children NZ

Heidi Coetzee from Save the Children (NZ) gave a harrowing account of the life of a little girl in Gaza who has witnessed unimaginable horrors. She decried those that hide behind the rhetoric of its “complex” when the toll on children is the stuff of nightmares.

And the war in Gaza now stands among the deadliest and the most destructive in recent history. And has led to a litany of grave violations against children being recorded. And after almost five months of brutal violence the impact on children is the stuff of nightmares. More than 12,000 children have been killed. Thousands are missing. Prisoned, buried, under rubble. Their deaths are unmarked. An unknown number of children have been maimed. They have life-changing injuries. With most unable to get even the most basic treatment for pain management, their health system no longer able to care for them