International Institutions: ideology and real powers

The pandemic has accelerated a series of transformations that today appear unstoppable. Radical changes and innovations that are taking place in all sectors, in social structures, in culture, in the economy and in politics. Rapid, silent and non-violent processes in the digital, energy and environmental fields whose thrust comes from a strengthened need for sustainability and modernization of society. These changes, however, are not immune to contradictions and difficulties that often affect populations and the economic system of nations. The growth of inequalities linked to the economic crisis corresponds to the rise of the new powerful people of the digital world, an asymmetry of economic resources that produces intolerable situations of uncertainty, concerns about the relationship between democracy and new technologies, lack of transparency but contemporary euphoria for determinism technological that appears tautological. For years, the Festival of Diplomacy has reflected and proposed a debate on present and future scenarios, on real and perceived risks, at a national, regional and global level. In the debates we question the value of innovation and the reliability of the actors who collect, analyze and use the many sensitive data put into circulation on the internet every day. From Europe, from national governments, from multilateral organizations, a strong push continues to arrive towards the adoption and adherence to principles and ideals that keep the individual and his fundamental rights at the center of attention, to preserve respect for them, safety and dignity. On the horizon, however, there seems to be a world that is unable to worry enough about the need to maintain Peace, in which Nations are blinded by the pursuit of national interest, to the detriment of universal interests, the defense of the environment, security and cooperation between states, as well as the fight against inequalities and economic integration. The unbridled struggle to appropriate raw materials and control new technologies is highlighted, in a competition that is becoming increasingly global. Realism seems to prevail over the noblest ideologies, those that led to the birth of global organizations, from the League of Nations to the UN, UNICEF, the African Union, the WTO, the G20, the World Bank and many others. Their power seems to be in crisis, and the Latin motto “Ex Amicitia Pax” appears not very current.