Fudan-LSE Lecture Series No.86

复旦-LSE讲座系列第86期

Title/题目

Weaponized Interdependence and Multipolar Gridlock: Can Adaptive Multilateralism Revive Multilateral Institutions?

被武器化的相互依赖与多极僵局：适应性多边主义能否重振多边制度？

Speaker/主讲人

Prof. Ubaldo Villani-Lubelli, University of Salento

Ubaldo Villani-Lubelli教授 意大利萨伦托大学

Host/主持人

Prof. Yijia Jing, Fudan IGPP

敬乂嘉教授 全球公共政策研究院

Discussant / 评论人

Assoc. Prof. Weizhan Meng, IAS

孟维瞻副教授 社会科学高等研究院

Time/时间

12:00-13:20, May 12, Tuesday, 2026

2026年5月12日，周二，12:00-13:20

Venue/地点

Room 805E, 8th Floor, West Sub-building of Guanghua Towers

光华楼西辅楼8楼805E会议室

https://v.wjx.cn/vm/tRtB5dS.aspx#

*校外人员请提前在【复旦信息办】预约，并携带身份原件入校

主讲人介绍/ The Speaker：

Prof. Ubaldo Villani-Lubelli

Ubaldo Villani-Lubelli is Professor of the History of Political Institutions at the University of Salento. He serves as Chair of the Master's Degree Program in Euro-Mediterranean Governance of Migration Policies (European Studies) and is a Member of the Kuratorium (Board of Directors) of Villa Vigoni – the German-Italian Centre for the European Dialogue. His research interests encompass the history of global governance and geopolitics, the evolution of German political institutions in the 20th and 21st centuries, and the history of European integration.

讲座内容/ Abstract:

The lecture examines the current transition of global governance through the lens of the crisis and transformation of multilateralism. It first distinguishes between status quo, reformist, and contestatory multilateralism, and frames contemporary global governance as a trilemma between robustness, effectiveness, and democratic legitimacy. It then analyses the main systemic challenges affecting the multilateral order, including geopolitical rivalries, war, economic fragmentation, and the re-emergence of transactional great-power politics, with particular attention to the phenomenon of weaponized interdependence. Particular attention is devoted to the roles of the European Union and China as both beneficiaries and critics of the current order, and to their interaction in shaping institutional responses. Finally, the lecture outlines four possible future scenarios—fragmented multilateralism, multipolar gridlock, adaptive multilateralism, and systemic collapse—and argues that only a more flexible and inclusive form of institutional adaptation may help revive multilateral cooperation under changing global conditions.