The Challenges of Multilateralism

Book excerpt: Multilateralism has long been a study of contrasts. Nationalist impulses, diverging and shifting goals, and a lack of enforcement methods have plagued the international organizations that facilitate multilateralism. Yet the desire to seek peace, reduce poverty, and promote the global health of people and the planet pushes states to work together. These challenges, across time and the globe, have brought about striking, yet diverging, results. Here, Kathryn Lavelle offers a history of multilateralism from its origins in the nineteenth century to the present. Lavelle focuses on the creation and evolution of major problem-solving organizations, examines the governmental challenges they have confronted and continue to face from both domestic and transnational constituencies, and considers how non-governmental organizations facilitate their work. Comprehensive, accessible, and narrative-driven, The Challenges of Multilateralism should appeal to students with interests in global development, public health, trade, international finance, humanitarian law, and security studies.