Multilateralism

Under multilateralism (of lat. Multus "much, many"; latus "Site") is understood the cooperation of several States in solving political, social or technical problems, which are cross-border.

In international law , the term multilateral is used when three or more states (or other subjects of international law ) act cooperatively, in principle with equal rights ( conduct diplomacy , in particular conclude treaties ).

In world trade law ( GATT and GATS ), multilateral agreements are defined which are concluded between all members of the World Trade Organization and which therefore apply equally to all. Accordingly, multilateralism can be understood as a “system of a multi-linked world economy with markets that are open to all sides”. If only individual states participate in a free trade agreement or a customs union , this is called plurilateral .

Formal, multilateral diplomacy, according to many, goes back to the Congress of Vienna in the nineteenth century. Since then, multilateralism has gained in importance and replaced the previously common, mostly purely intergovernmental ( bilateral ) diplomacy in many areas. As a result, numerous international organizations emerged in a short time , the most important of which today is the United Nations (as the successor to the League of Nations ).

In response to an increasingly perceived unilateralism , the Alliance for Multilateralism was founded in 2019 .

Related terms are bilateral (two actors) and unilateral (one actor).

literature

• Joachim Krause , Multilateralism in a Multipolar World . In: Politikum , Heft 4/2016, pp. 5–12.
• Francis Cheneval: The Government of the Peoples. On the Idea and Principles of Multilateral Democracy. Palgrave Macmillan, New York 2011, ISBN 978-0-230-11699-3 .

Web links

Wiktionary: multilateralism  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

• Multilateralism. In: Digital dictionary of the German language .
• Multilateralism: Solving global problems together , definition by the Federal Foreign Office.
• Multilateral cooperation , online glossary from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Definition according to Joachim Krause , Multilateralism in a multipolar world . In: Politikum , Heft 4/2016, pp. 5–12, here p. 5
2. ↑ multilateralism. In: Duden online dictionary. Bibliographisches Institut GmbH - Dudenverlag.