Who is the leader?

Global politics has changed its course in many aspects in order to respond to current health crisis. Even during the time when the first lockdowns were enforced and the world seemed to have stopped, politicians dealt with countless matters related to crisis management. Countries are rethinking their priorities and strategies when it comes to both their national and international politics. The pandemic either imposed or accelerated changes in internal politics, while the relations in European and Euro-Atlantic alliances proved to be the backbone of recovery and progress.

Attendees of the XIII Summer School for Young Diplomats “Gavro Vuković” had the unique opportunity to hear and engage with distinguished diplomats and professors in the field of international relations who first hand testified to these changes. Over the course of several sessions, they expressed their opinions about current affairs on the European and American political stage, as well as the predictions of the global state after the end of the ongoing pandemic.

Is it time to reset?

With the US presidential elections around the corner, we all get to witness the importance of election that ‘spills over’ its national borders. Long-standing friend of Summer School for Young Diplomats and Professor of Practice of Diplomacy and International Relations at the Boston University’s Pardee School of Global Studies, Vesko Garčević, led the conversation about US elections and what comes next for the US in foreign affairs. He discussed some burning topics with our guest speakers and pointed out his main concern – is it time to reset American and global politics? What is the character of these elections and can we expect a shift in international relations after the elections?

As the domineering elements of this year’s elections, three important dynamics were highlighted by Senior Fellow and Adjunct Professor at John Hopkins University, Edward P. Joseph – increased divisiveness and polarization in the country, COVID-19 pandemic that turned out to be a national disaster, and civil rights activism around the George Floyd incident. These happen to be the leading motives for voting in 2020.

The economic hardship and great uncertainty caused by the pandemic are the factors that have most influenced the change in traditional campaigning and the way people vote. In fact, there is an expected surge in Mail-In Absentee Voting than ever seen before. Nonetheless, while the outcome of the elections will certainly have a great impact in America, one cannot deny the global impact of the elections at hand, especially on the issues regarding health, trade and global cooperation. Professor Joseph concluded with a statement,

‘“There are still strong powers in the world and it’s important who’s leading the US.”

When it comes to foreign policy, Erik Goldstein, Professor of International Relations and History at the Boston University’s Pardee School of Global Studies explains that it doesn’t depend solely on who wins the presidential election but also the Senate. The experience in foreign affairs and working together with other countries in a multilateral fashion should be the main prerequisites from the future country leader. Same applies to carrying out already taken international duties, and maintaining good relations with traditional partners, which further implies active cooperation with Western Balkan countries. Staying on this track was highly recommended according to Goldstein.

‘“Foreign policy loves continuity and stability.”

Who does what?

Who does what in complex system such as European Union is not always easy to understand, said Vivien A. Schmidt, Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration and Professor of International Relations and Political Science at the Boston University’s Pardee School of Global Studies.

Professor Schmidt admitted that even within the EU there are different positions on crucial points such as who the governing body is and how the system is governed. She explained that there are two main yet opposed points of view – intergovernmentalism and supranationalism. The first one is based on the belief that it’s all about consensus-seeking deliberation between the Member States, while the concept of supranationalism implies that the decision-making process is shared between the European Commission and the European Council. However, each institution has a clear scope of work and responsibilities, while the leadership issue is a matter of perspective. This politicisation of processes between the institutions can be a good thing because it makes the EU more democratic.

‘“No one is fully important because everybody’s involved.”

Moving on to define legitimacy within the EU, our speaker pointed out five characteristics of procedural quality that have to be obtained by the governing authority in order to achieve legitimacy – efficacy, accountability, transparency, inclusiveness, and openness. Within the EU, the go-to body for legitimacy is the European Parliament, whose role is becoming more valued and notable. It is also the only governing body whose members are chosen by voting in elections, and in that context, it represents the voice of European people. Schmidt added that as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, the trust in governing authority has significantly improved. Thus we have witnessed coming together of all the EU institutions and the actors of the Member States.

Roadmap of the European Union

The health crisis changed the course of plans on the highest level within the EU as well. The second half of 2020 marks German’s presidency of the Council of the EU, which, according to Robert Weber, Ambassador of FR Germany to Montenegro needed to be fundamentally changed since planning for presidency started during the previous year. These changes involved crisis management, working with partners in the EU on exit strategy after the crisis, and coordinating sustainable recovery strategy, but also prioritizing the matters that were not affected by the virus, such as Brexit, refugee and migration policy, and rule of law. Finally, the focus of the German presidency will also be on financial framework, redrafted neighbourhood policy in order to shift more resources to support neighbours and candidate countries who had already profited from the EU solidarity, and common foreign and security policy matters. When asked about the future of Europe after the crisis, Ambassador stated,

‘“If we manage to implement everything we planned and get out in solidarity stronger than we came in, we will prove ourselves capable of handling the crisis in the EU.”

So where does Montenegro stand in projections of the EU and what comes next? Aleksandar Drljević, Montenegro’s Chief Negotiator with the EU explaining the current position of Montenegro in European integrations pointed out that,

‘“Montenegro has shown a strong willingness for further reforms expecting future full membership in the EU.”

Our speakers agreed that the next step for Montenegro on its European road was managing factors that could be seen as obstacles. This is the period when all integration actors need to be more focused and put more effort into achieving concrete targets in relation to these issues.

Concluding on a positive note, they expressed their belief that it was possible for Montenegro to become a member of the EU by 2025 if we all work together – not only within the government but also within local communities and civil society. In this process, the role of young diplomats can be of utmost importance.