Interview: Global Security Initiative comes at critical moment, says South African scholar

JOHANNESBURG, June 4 (Xinhua) -- The China-proposed Global Security Initiative is crucial as it comes at a critical time when the world is grappling with multiple crises, a South African scholar has said.

The multilateral structure is an important part of international governance, and at the heart of multilateralism is the United Nations, said David Monyae, director of the Center for Africa-China Studies at the University of Johannesburg.

A key challenge facing the world today is that the United Nations is becoming less binding as some nations are opting for a more unilateral approach in international affairs, said Monyae.

Referring to the Ukraine crisis as an example, the scholar said the United States and NATO didn't address the security concerns of relevant parties in the ongoing conflict, bringing about challenges that further divide the world.

Against such a backdrop, the Global Security Initiative, which emphasizes the need for common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security, provides the right guiding philosophy to ensure global peace and security, according to the expert.

"Therefore one expects ... it would be a starting place where the bulk of the global community will start opening the discussions ... reach an agreement and have a consensus that binds the world by and large," Monyae said.

It is quite important that "different voices would converge and come up with solutions and the solutions that are acceptable to all where you don't have unilateral decisions by single countries dominating others," he stressed.

The Global Security Initiative is completely different from traditional U.S. approaches, Monyae pointed out.

The world has seen the United States on numerous occasions bombing countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq, he added. "We have seen similar approaches played by the United States in Syria and Libya ... a trend that has seemed to be a very popular one within U.S. foreign policy."

By contrast, the Global Security Initiative "tries to bring in a consensus among countries to ensure that peace is guaranteed and that peace should not come at the expense of any other country," he said.