1992/01/01 by Miles Kahler · 349 citations
Social Sciences · #Economics #Externalization #Global Peace and Security Dynamics #International Development and Aid #International Relations and Foreign Policy #International economics #International trade #Law #Leverage (statistics) #Multilateralism #Opposition (politics) #Political science
paper · doi:10.1017/s0020818300027867
published in International Organization 46(3), 681-708 (University of Cambridge)
openalex publication_date 1992/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/26
Multilateralism, international governance of the “many,” was defined by the United States after 1945 in terms of certain principles, particularly opposition to bilateral and discriminatory arrangements that were believed to enhance the leverage of the powerful over the weak and to increase international conflict. Postwar multilateralism also expressed an impulse to universality (John Ruggie's “generalized organizing principles”) that implied relatively low barriers to participation in these arrangements. A ticket of admission was always required, whether acceding to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) or joining the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Nevertheless, the price of that ticket was not set so high that less powerful or less wealthy states could not hope to participate.