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Paper short abstract

This paper examines the changing character of development in the Second Cold War, conceptualising it as part a larger shift towards ‘post-multilateralism,’ a condition where the formal shells of multilateral institutions persist, but their core principles are hollowed out by leading states.

Paper long abstract

This paper examines the changing character of development in the Second Cold War. The global development system was described by Friedmann (1964) as the ‘greatest achievement’ of the post-WWII multilateral order, a ‘permanent and inevitable aspect of contemporary international organisation.’ Yet today, this order is under sustained assault, as states slash aid budgets, withdraw from the Sustainable Development Goals and redefine development through a geopolitical lens. This assault, we argue, is part of a larger shift towards ‘post-multilateralism,’ a condition where the formal shells of multilateral institutions persist, but their core principles are hollowed out and strategically undermined. We locate the emergence of post-multilateralism in the structural shifts in geopolitics and the global economy, marked by the crisis of neoliberalism, the embrace of state capitalism, the end of US hegemony, and the emergence of the ‘Second Cold War,’ which are leading to a non-hegemonic world order, in which multilateral norms are seen as obstacles to overcome. We chart the strategies states adopt to unmake multilateral development, including sabotaging, bypassing and disengaging from existing institutions, and diverting development cooperation towards geopolitical and commercial goals. We also chart efforts to preserve the development system, before considering the implications of post-multilateral development order.