{"id":63295,"date":"2026-03-27T11:43:41","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T15:43:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/?p=63295"},"modified":"2026-03-27T11:43:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T15:43:41","slug":"erosion-of-trust-puts-diplomacy-under-siege-say-pardee-professors-garcevic-and-storella","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/2026\/03\/27\/erosion-of-trust-puts-diplomacy-under-siege-say-pardee-professors-garcevic-and-storella\/","title":{"rendered":"Erosion of Trust puts Diplomacy under Siege, Say Pardee Professors Garcevic and Storella"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a panel discussion on \u201cThe End of Diplomacy? Multilateralism under Siege,\u201d held March 26 at Emmanuel College, Ambassadors Riyad Insanally; Mark Storella<\/a>, Pardee Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy; and Vesko Gar\u010devi\u0107<\/a>, Pardee Professor of the Practice of International Relations;<\/span> agreed that the current state of global affairs can be characterized as a geopolitical recession. This is reflected in the dysfunction of multilateralism, the crisis facing international institutions, growing distrust in the international legal system and the norms on which it is based, and the erosion of confidence in diplomacy as a key tool for crisis management.<\/p>\n

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Amb. Mark Storella<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Professor Storella averred that, with the horrors of WWII now a distant memory, major powers feel less need to abide by the rules-based order developed after the war. China unlawfully claims the whole South China Sea, Russia tries to gobble its neighbor Ukraine, and the United States under Trump has tossed out the rules of the global trading system and launched a war against Iran while still negotiating. The US breach of norms is especially damaging given America’s longstanding role as the leader of the international order it now assails.<\/p>\n

Storella cited Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s description of current trends as not just disruption but rather a “rupture” in international relations.<\/p>\n

Professor Garcevic described the current international system as the multiplex world order, characterized by strategic competition of big powers across multiple domains, including security, energy, trade, economic influence, norm-setting, and artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

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Amb. Vesko Gar\u010devi\u0107<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Garcevic and Storella were joined in the panel organized by the Institute of Eastern Mediterranean Studies by Ambassador Riyad Insanally, former Guyana ambassador to Washington and Interamerican Commissioner on Human Rights. Insanally said small state had long sought to accommodate to the excesses of big powers, recognizing that the system always contained elements of hypocrisy but also offered benefits. However, the gloves now seem to be off and great powers, especially the US, do not seem to respect any guardrails. Small states confront the challenge of adapting while they continue to pursue their diplomacy through multilateral organizations such as the Organization of American States and the UN.<\/p>\n

Citing Ancient Greek historian Thucydides, Garcevic said we are entering a period where “the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.” However, he argued that small countries, even amid current global challenges, can achieve international influence by strategically leveraging their geographical locations, natural resources, and accumulated wealth.<\/p>\n

While the situation remains perilous, Storella paraphrased Leon Trotsky by saying, “you may not be interested in diplomacy, but diplomacy is interested in you.” The wars that are now underway will need to be resolved through some form of diplomatic action and global challenges, like pandemics, climate, and migration, will require multilateral solutions.<\/p>\n

Mark C. Storella<\/span><\/a> is the professor of the practice of diplomacy at the <\/span>Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies<\/span><\/a>. He served as a United States Foreign Service Officer for more than three decades. Besides being an ambassador to Zambia, he was a deputy assistant secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration and dean of the Leadership and Management School of the Foreign Service Institute. Storella has several honors and awards to his name, including the Presidential Rank Award and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s Excellence in Service Award. To learn more about his work and accomplishments, visit his <\/span>faculty profile<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

V<\/span><\/a>esko Gar\u010devi\u0107<\/span><\/a> is a professor of the practice of international studies at the <\/span>Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies<\/span><\/a> and the director of the <\/span>Center for the Study of Europe<\/span><\/a>. An expert on multilateral issues, Gar\u010devi\u0107 is the co-author of <\/span>Montenegro and Serbia: A Velvet Divorce?<\/span><\/i><\/a> (Bloomsbury Academic, 2025) which explores the divergent past between Serbia and Montenegro between 1988 and 2023. To read more about his work and accomplishments, visit his <\/span>faculty profile<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a panel discussion on \u201cThe End of Diplomacy? Multilateralism under Siege,\u201d held March 26 at Emmanuel College, Ambassadors Riyad Insanally; Mark Storella, Pardee Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy; and Vesko Gar\u010devi\u0107, Pardee Professor of the Practice of International Relations; agreed that the current state of global affairs can be characterized as a geopolitical…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25562,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11797],"tags":[12259,11255,1688,8646,13421,8960,8593,1819,8511,9073,9527,8752],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63295"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25562"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63295"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63296,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63295\/revisions\/63296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}