Is Multilateralism Always The First Best Option When Considering Global Economic Governance?

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Topic: Is multilateralism always the first best option when considering Global Economic Governance? The period of World War II witnessed multilateralism become the most predominant model of global economic governance. Nevertheless, despite the apparent success of the model, it has become increasingly challenged in the recent year for its apparent lack of effectiveness, transparency and democratic principles. Parallel to multilateralism, one can perceive an increasing trend towards transnational private governance built on the principle of mutual recognition. Multilateralism refers to the cooperation and coordination, based on a pre-defined set of rules and principles, among three or more countries. Ikenbery points out three distictive ways …show more content…

With Brexit in UK, the election of President Trump in the US, and the rise of populism across Europe, the notion of multilateralism has been under fire as it is perceived as incompatible to the extent of violating national sovereignty. The incumbent US administration has consistently questioned the legitimacy of multilateral organizations such as the UN, WTO, NATO, etc as well as overtly expressed its preference for bilateralism over multilateralism when it comes to trade does little to ensure the vitality of the approach. On top of that, the lack of US support in areas of climate change, humanitarian development and security signalled the upcoming drastic reduction in funding as well as its absence as a moral leader. This could deal a blow to the model. As such, it also serves to highlight that in the current context, multilateralism does not connote, and benefit from the assymetry of power. Indeed, despite being a system advocating for cooperation and coordination, multilateralism requires a clear leadership and in this case it has always been the

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