Triumph of multilateralism
Multilateralism exists or occurs when three or more countries work together to achieve a shared goal. It is always the preferred method of resolving international crises or formulating goals for the international community, being, in effect, global governance by the many, for the many.
The United Nations endeavours to institutionalise multilateral co-operation after the two world wars. In many of the most important issues it is a small group of the most powerful countries that act on behalf of the totality of the international community of nations. This is because it reflects the reality of power in the world and because it is easier to arrive at decisions in smaller groups, which is why the UN has a Security Council in which each of five countries has a veto.
Monday and Tuesday brought reassuring news that multilateralism is not dead and its application is not futile because there are occasions when it produces results and there are contentious issues where it is the only pragmatic mechanism for dialogue resolution.
After 12 years of dialogue and negotiations by six global powers and Iran, an agreement has been concluded which will restrain Iran from developing nuclear weapons in exchange for the lifting of UN-mandated sanctions which have stifled the country’s efforts to realise its economic potential. That is remarkable, given the long, bitter history of hostility between Iran and the United States.
The deal has been accomplished in spite of opposition by Israel which, ironically, is the only country in the Middle East to have nuclear weapons. Sceptics and critics should be assuaged by the extensive provisions for international verifications on which the removal of sanctions is predicated. This is a triumph for multilateralism and those who advocate its use, in particular President Obama, in preference to those who want air strikes and US boots on the ground.
In another important case, the European Union has agreed to provide a third massive bailout to the profligate and intransigent Greek Government. Hopefully, the Greek Parliament will have the good sense to accept the terms of the deal being offered, pass the laws necessary as the pre-conditionality, and follow through on the rest of the conditionalities. Anything else will amount to shooting themselves in the head.
If the deal holds, the EU will have maintained the union, the euro, and the integration process will remain intact while simultaneously saving Greece from self-inflicted implosion into economic chaos and political conflict.
The positive lessons are many. First, multilateralism can work and does work in some circumstances, and second, multilateral co-operation should be tried and exhausted before resorting to any other method of resolution. Otherwise, the rule will be, those with the gold make the rules — especially for small countries like Greece. Persistent perversity produces particularly painful punishment. In domino terms, Greece got six love.
The existing members of the very exclusive club will do everything possible to prevent others from having nuclear weapons; they always do this, claiming they are acting in the interest of those who do not have that capability.
Taking the pluses and the minuses, it is clear that, like democracy, multilateralism is not perfect but it is the best system that we have. The alternative to multilateralism is a single hegemonic country or chaos.