Rise of Minilateralism in the Indo-Pacific

Rise of Minilateralism in the Indo-Pacific

GS-2: IR

UPSC/UPPSC

Source: TH

30/05/2024

Context:

In recent years, minilateral activity has emerged as a pivot in the Indo-Pacific region.
Recently the US Secretary of Defense met with his Australian and Japanese counterparts to institutionalize and launch the ‘Squad’ as a new four-way security arrangement in the Indo-Pacific.

About ‘Squad’:

The Squad is a series of security ‘mini-lateral’ groups in the Indo-Pacific, including the Quad, AUKUS, the US-Philippines-Japan trilateral, and the US-Japan-South Korea trilateral.
The idea of the Squad is centered on the desire of four large democratic countries – India, the United States, Japan and Australia – to militarize the South China Sea to contain China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region, following a hub-and-spoke model.
The seeds for the creation of the Squad in 2023 were already sown through efforts by the four countries to enhance their strategic cooperation in the South China Sea.

About Minilateralism:

It refers to a practical approach where a small group of countries collaborate on specific issues.
Minilaterals refer to informal and more targeted initiatives that aim to address a “specific threat, contingency or security issue in which fewer states share a common interest and to resolve it within a limited time.”
Their outcomes and commitments are voluntary in nature.
Minilateral cooperation is being seen on all important topics for international cooperation such as climate change, economic cooperation, trade, connectivity, financial regulation and security.
A series of minilaterals: the Quad, the India-Japan-US trilateral and the India-France-Australia trilateral have been created to advance the interests of like-minded countries.
They also provide a way for the participation of countries like India, which lack equal decision-making power in forums such as the UN Security Council.

Rise of Minilateralism:

It is associated with stagnation in reforms and the perceived failure of multilateral organisations to achieve global cooperation on the most relevant issues facing the international community.
In multilateral organisations, consensus seems impossible and reforms remain elusive, while vested interests and institutional inertia continue to impede decision-making.
Large organisations with formal institutional structure, international bureaucracy and heterogeneous membership may face bottlenecks that impede quick decision-making. These transaction costs associated with the multilateral framework have made minilateralism a more preferred mechanism.
The development of minilaterals is thus often seen as a solution to overcome the inefficiency of multilaterals.

Importance of Minilateralism:

Minilateralism allows a group of countries with shared interests and values to circumvent seemingly moribund frameworks and resolve issues of common concern.
These arrangements are voluntary, and follow a bottom-up approach.
This can bring certain benefits, including speed, flexibility, modularity, and possibilities for experimentation.
In climate action, minilaterals can help countries collaborate on research and implementation of technologies in the field of renewable energy.
In trade negotiations, minilaterals can fill gaps in multilateral frameworks, and allow countries to engage in political dialogue to resolve pending, global-level issues.
In security cooperation, minilaterals are a useful tool of diplomacy because they complement existing bilateral partnerships, allowing countries to focus on specific areas, while the closed-door nature of discussions in minilaterals helps maintain confidentiality.
Minilateralism can provide a platform for strengthening defence and security cooperation in new regional theatres such as the Indo-Pacific.
Minilateralism provides an avenue for enhancing political dialogue and trust building among key partners.
It can enhance opportunities to streamline negotiations in multilateral forums and work towards the larger goals of international cooperation and global governance. It provides an opportunity for middle powers such as Australia, India and Japan to build on shared interests and strengthen regional economic and security architecture.

Challenges related to Minilateralism:

The voluntary, non-binding and consensus-based nature of minilaterals may be less effective in shaping state policy, interests and behaviour.
Minilateralism also presents the danger of forum-shopping, undermining important international organisations and reducing accountability in global governance.
The actual qualitative and quantitative outcomes of minilaterals are difficult to measure.
The rise of China as a significant political, economic and military power is viewed with concern, and its flagship Belt and Road Initiative is seen as a means of strengthening Beijing’s geopolitical reach.

Way Forward:

Minilateralism can help forge targeted partnerships that can focus energies on shared interests and concerns.
Members have the option of engaging with different countries on different frameworks to coordinate policy approaches.
At the same time, the proliferation of minilaterals can lead to incoherent approaches to policy and strategy on a common issue.
Too many frameworks can lead to fragmentation of action, and dilution of results which in turn can undermine cooperation on global issues.
There is a need to explore more ways on how minilaterals can complement the work of multilaterals, and not disrupt the work being done by these larger organisations.
There is a need to apply a forward-looking perspective to conclude how minilaterals will impact security and strategic outcomes in different neighbourhoods, and how their operations and outcomes can be improved.
The future impact of minilateral or multilateral and global governance will depend on their ability to promote cooperation and engagement on international issues rather than leading to fragmentation of global governance mechanisms.

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Mains Question

Discuss the significance of minilateralism and the challenges associated with it in the context of recent geopolitical developments.