Following the Armistice Day on November 11, a new international platform aimed at promoting a revival of multilateralism was inaugurated by the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron. The new forum is based on a desire to carry the torch of cooperation in the face of the difficulties repeatedly expressed by the ballot boxes and on the streets. It strives to bring multilateralism up to date while connecting practitioners, academic and social entrepreneurs.
Indeed, according to the 11 November presidential address, "Economic, climatic and migratory crises have weakened the confidence of citizens around the world in the effectiveness of the current global governance model, especially because they suffer certain negative effects of globalization. " This is why this forum aims to go beyond the traditional framework of inter-state discussions to build on a broader set of civil society. A multitude of local authorities, companies, NGOs and associations were therefore invited to present their initiatives, but also to showcase their field experiences and share best practices.
Climate issues were mainstreamed at the forum as a critical vector of discussions with initiatives and ideas of all kinds, ranging from Security Council reform to further integration of non-traditional security issues in local initiatives to enhance food security in the Sahel.
This first edition of the forum was rather timid in relation to its ambitions to advance peace with little concrete cases of conflict being discussed. However, the potential is there, and the will to act is also present to create a more inclusive approach to peace in terms of ideas, topics and considerations. We will have to wait for next year. Nevertheless, we can now say that if Switzerland has its economic forum in Davos and Germany has its conference on security in Munich; France will now have its Forum on Peace in Paris.