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The three historical epochs of Multilateralism

par Telo, Mario
Référence Globalisation, Multilateralism, Europe: Towards a Better Global Governance?, Ashgate Publishing Ltd, page (33-74)
Publication Publié, 2014

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Résumé :

This chapter is an introduction to multilateralist studies by providing the reader with a historical background and input into a comparative approach. It focuses on two historical examples of multilateral cooperation within the changing world order from the nineteenth to twentieth century. The chapter analyses the origins and developments of multilateral arrangements, starting with the context of the evolving multipolar Concert of the Great Powers which framed European and, to some extent, global modernity before the First World War. Secondly, the chapter addresses the grand multilateral design driven by the US since 1944-45 and its transformation during the Cold War. This historical reconstruction will be conducted with the twenty-first century scenario in mind where the current uncertain transition to a new heterogeneous multilateral cooperation within the emerging multipolar world takes place, where the legacy of the post-Second World War institutionalised multilateral system is in trouble and new actors are emerging in East Asia, the Americas, and Europe, notably regional multilateral entities. Compared with the nineteenth-century multipolarity, the current heterogeneous multipolar system is characterised by a large array of multilateral, multilevel and multiactor practices, as well as by multiple demands of enhanced legitimacy.