DB542E

Multilateralism

Multilateralism is basically cooperation amongst three or more countries. It basically entails countries getting together and trying to find cooperative solutions to common problems. So, few examples would be climate change, which by definition doesn't respect national boundaries. But we also have issues of global epidemics which can spread from one country to another with the ease of somebody getting on an airplane. In addition, we have the looming threat of cyber insecurity. How do you keep an open global internet and at the same time, protect ourselves from attacks from other countries? Traditionally, when people talked about multilateral cooperation, they talk about universal membership organizations such as the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, the World Bank. But in addition to these standing treaty-based bodies, the United States and other countries are increasingly relying on a broader variety of multilateral institutions. And a good example of this is the group of 20 or the G20, composed of approximately the world's 20 biggest economies. And what the G20 symbolizes more than anything else, is that we live in a new world where things can't be simply arranged in a cozy boardroom of Western countries. We really need expand the table and bring in some of the new actors that are transforming the world and where much of the world's economic dynamism is actually a car. One of the major challenges of the 21st century is trying to update current multilateral institutions to the rise of emerging nations. In particular the so-called bric nations, Brazil, Russia, India, and China. There are countries that are attempting to assert themselves in the world and they want a place at the high table of global politics from the perspective of the established powers, they're not always on the same page in terms of their priorities, or necessarily the values. That makes cooperation a lot more difficult. Because multilateral cooperation, but inherently requires a certain amount of compromise and a certain amount of sacrifice of freedom of action externally. And also sometimes some sacrifice to domestic policy autonomy because you're signing up for things like how to treat your industries that actually have some bite domestically.