Revisiting International Relations: Lessons from President Alexander Stubb's Address

President Alexander Stubb's twenty-minute review of the fundamentals of contemporary world politics at the United Nations General Assembly offered a masterclass in how theory and practice converge for students of diplomacy and practitioners of statecraft alike. Addressing the values, interests, and power that drive foreign policy, Stubb emphasized the importance of smaller states relying on values and carefully crafted balanced interests to gain relative influence. Pakistan, categorized as a smaller state, must take note of these principles, re-evaluate its foreign policies based on fundamental values, and prioritize normative consistency.

Key Takeaways:

President Stubb identified values, interests, and power as the fundamental elements driving foreign policy, with major states primarily operating through power and smaller states reliant on the capacity to cooperate with others.
The post-Cold War consensus is concluded, and a new world order is emerging, with its contours expected to take a decade to define.
Power matters, but ideas, values, norms, and legitimacy hold underrated importance in shaping the international system.
President Stubb argued that smaller states, including Pakistan, have agency and a decisive role in constructing the evolving international system through the execution of legitimacy based on fundamental values.
The current international environment is characterized by interest-centric multipolar and transactional foreign policies, leading to short-term, quid pro quo policies over long-term value-based multilateralism.
The global balance of power is shifting to the Global South and East, with emerging powers like China, India, Africa, and Latin America holding significant economic, political, and military influence.

Statistics:

The new world order may take a decade or so to define.
The global balance of power is shifting, with the Global South and East becoming more accomplished economically, politically, and militarily, yielding hard and soft power.
10 major conflicts globally have been neglected, including operations in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, Congo, and Occupied Kashmir (Note: This statistic is mentioned in the context of Stubb's argument and is not explicitly stated in a numerical format.)

Sources:

President Alexander Stubb's Address to the United Nations General Assembly
United Nations Charter