Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
An accessible history of multilateralism from its origins in the 1800s to the present
Multilateral initiatives have brought about striking, yet diverging, results. International organizations often struggle with the nationalist impulses of member states, different and shifting goals, and a lack of enforcement methods. Here, Kathryn Lavelle offers a history of multilateralism from its origins to the present. Lavelle focuses on the creation and evolution of major problem-solving organizations, examines the governmental challenges they have confronted and continue to face from both domestic and transnational constituencies, and considers how nongovernmental organizations facilitate their work.