Multilateralism as an End in Itself1

Abstract

Students and practitioners of world politics need to assess the value of multilateralism not only as a means to an end, but also as an end in and of itself. The functional view, according to which multilateral channels are worth pursuing only insofar as they allow actors to gain influence on the global stage or produce tangible and immediate results in fighting global harms, is incomplete. As a global governance practice characterized by an inclusive, institutionalized, and principled form of dialog, the multilateral procedure generates a number of processual benefits—mutually recognizable patterns of action, typically moderate solutions, and legitimate policies whose large ownership eases their effective implementation—which, taken together, strengthen the political impetus for global cooperation, regardless of the policies adopted. Routinized, nondiscriminatory, and comprehensive political dialog is a pragmatic template for enhancing global governance that can be implemented here and now, as recent developments at the United Nations indicate.