What is ICM?

The challenge for all humankind is not to believe that there is some utopian system that our collective intelligence has yet to discover. Rather it’s to take our existing system and make it fit the purposes of our age.
— Kevin Rudd, Chair of the ICM, former Australian prime minister

Over the course of two years, the Independent Commission on Multilateralism (ICM) has analyzed the multilateral system through the lens of fifteen issue areas, and each was the focus of expert-level discussions and papers that received external input. This work culminated in a final report, released on September 21, 2016.

The project is now in the process of publishing fifteen reports, one for each issue area. (See what we’ve published so far.)

Explore our issue areas page to learn more about each issue.

The ICM is chaired by former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, with former Indian ambassador to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri serving as the Secretary-General until April 2016. Ms. Barbara Gibson, a Canadian diplomat, served as Secretary-General until January 2017.

The work of the Commission has been conducted under the supervision of the chair and the co-chairs and supported by the International Peace Institute (IPI), a global think tank, which serves as the Secretariat.

The ICM also has:

  1. A Ministerial-level Board
  2. Ambassadorial-level Boards in New York, Vienna, and Geneva

Under the direction of the Secretary-General, and in close cooperation with the Chair and Co-chairs, IPI took the lead in drafting the final report of the Commission.

Media Inquiries
Annie Schmidt
schmidt@ipinst.org