Multilateralism

Multilateralism is a term in international relations that refers to multiple countries working in concert on a given issue. Multilateralism was defined by Miles Kahler as “international governance of the ‘many,’” and its central principle was “opposition bilateral discriminatory arrangements that were believed to enhance the leverage of the powerful over the weak and to increase international conflict.” In 1990, Robert Keohane defined multilateralism as “the practice of coordinating national policies in groups of three or more states.

International organizations, such as the United Nations (UN) and the World Trade Organization are multilateral in nature. The main proponents of multilateralism have traditionally been the middle powers such as Canada, Australia, Switzerland, the Benelux countries and the Nordic countries. Larger states often act unilaterally, while smaller ones may have little direct power in international affairs aside from participation in the United Nations (by consolidating their UN vote in a voting bloc with other nations, for example). Multilateralism may involve several nations acting together as in the UN or may involve regional or military alliances, pacts, or groupings such as NATO.

The converse of multilateralism is unilateralism in terms of political philosophy.