Multilateralism as an Institution v. Organizational Form

Generic Multilateralism

- Cooperation among 3 or more states

- Most IOs are generically multilateral

o US criticized for evading restrictions in formal multilateral orgs: Int’l Criminal Court, UNSC

Qualitative Multilateralism

“Institutional form that coordinates relations among 3 or more states on the basis of “generalized” principles of conduct — i.e., principles which specify appropriate conduct for a class of actions, without regard to the particularistic interests of the parties or the strategic exigencies at the time. (Ruggie, 1992)”

Opposite of multilateralism is ‘bilateralism’ – in which policy coordination reflects is not generalized and is based on specific interests and strategic exigencies.

Corollaries of Qualitative Multilateralism

- GPCs entail indivisibility with respect to the range of behavior specified. (“An attack against one is an attack against all”; MFN)

- multilateralism generates expectation of “diffuse reciprocity”(Keohane 1986): benefits will yield rough equivalence over time.

- Fears of relative gains diminished

- e.g., sovereignty, law-of-the-sea and environmental regimes are qualitative multilateral institution

Formal Multilateral Organizations

Organizations may be organized as generic multilateral institutions or as qualitative multilateral institutions

- most of UN system, NATO, GATT/WTO as formal QMI

- UNSC is a generic multilateral institution (GMI); permanent 5 members have veto-power

- Most political debates over multilateralism focus on generic/formal def. rather than on qualitative def.