III. Unilateralism vs. Multilateralism

Suggested Texts:

Brzezinski, Zbigniew. The Choice: Global Domination or Global Leadership (Basic Books, 2004). Former security advisor to the president of the United States, Brzezinski argues that America’s interests and the world’s are intertwined. Narrow anti-terrorist measures and apathy towards international political objections do not improve national security; neither do they work towards providing the world with much-needed American leadership and security. The author warns that America could be left alone in the world, unless it succeeds in creating a balanced “co-operative” hegemony. Idealistic internationalism, Brzezinski argues, is “the common-sense dictate of hard-nosed realism.”

Forman, Shepard, Princeton Lyman, and Stewart Patrick. The United States in a Global Age: The Case for Multilateral Engagement, Paying for Essentials Policy Paper Series, Center on International Cooperation, New York University (May 2002). The authors propose that U.S. foreign policy be reformed to meet the challenges of global interdependency, above all by engaging in more effective multilateralism. They advocate the streamlining of governmental jurisdiction over multilateral initiatives and funding, partnering with private actors like NGOs, and greater public involvement in redefining America as a good global citizen.

1. Unilateralism

Coate, Roger A. Unilateralism, Ideology, & U.S. Foreign Policy: The United States In and Out of UNESCO (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1988).    

Desch, Michael C. When the Third World Matters: Latin America and the United States Grand Strategy (Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993).

Harshé, Rajen. Twentieth Century Imperialism: Shifting Contours and Changing Conceptions (New Delhi and Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1997).

Kapstein, Ethan B. and Michael Mastanduno, eds. Unipolar Politics: Realism and State Strategies After the Cold War (New York: Columbia University Press, 1999).

Krauthammer, Charles. “Unilateral? Yes, Indeed,” The Washington Post (December 14, 2001).

Krauthammer, Charles. “The Unipolar Moment,” Foreign Affairs 70, 1 (1990-1991): 23-33.

Lobe, Jim. “But We Don’t Want to Be Unilateralists, Mr Bush,” Asia Times (April 30, 2003).

Malone, David M., and Yuen Foong Khong, eds. Unilateralism and U.S. Foreign Policy: International Perspectives (Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2003).

Mastanduno, Michael. “Preserving the Unipolar Moment: Realist Theories and U.S. Grand Strategy after the Cold War,” in Ethan B. Kapstein and Michael Mastanduno, eds., Unipolar Politics: Realism and State Strategies After the Cold War (New York: Columbia University Press, 1999).

Patrick, Stewart. “America’s Retreat from Multilateral Engagement,” Current History (December 2000): 430–439.

Steel, Ronald. Temptations of a Superpower (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1995).

Tirman, John. Sovereign Acts: American Unilateralism and Global Security (New York: Harper & Row, Ballinger division, 1989).

Towle, Philip. Protest and Perish: A Critique of Unilateralism (London: Alliance Publishers for the Institute for European Defence and Strategic Studies, 1982).

Wohlforth, William C. “The Stability of the Unipolar World,” International Security (Summer 1999).

2. Multilateralism  

Ayoob, Mohammed. The Third World Security Predicament: State Making, Regional Conflict, and the International System (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1995).

Barry, Donald, and Ronald C. Keith, eds. Regionalism, Multilateralism, and the Politics of Global Trade (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1999).

Bassiouni, M. Cherif, comp. International Terrorism: Multilateral Conventions, 1937–2001 (Ardsley, NY: Transnational Publishers, 2001).

Brenner, Michael. Multilateralism and Western Strategy (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995).

Commission on Global Governance. Our Global Neighbourhood (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995).

Cox, Robert W. The New Realism: Perspectives on Multilateralism and World Order (London: Macmillan; New York: St. Martin’s Press; Tokyo: United Nations University Press, 1997).  

Fortmann, Michel, S. Neil MacFarlane, and Stéphane Roussel, eds. Multilateralism and Regional Security (Clementsport, Nova Scotia: The Canadian Peacekeeping Press, 1997).

Haggard, Stephan. Developing Nations and the Politics of Global Integration (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 1995).

Ito, Takatoshi, and Anne O. Krueger, eds. Regionalism Versus Multilateral Trade Arrangements (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997).

Kagan, Robert. “Multilateralism, American Style, Washington Post (Sept. 13, 2002).

Kaul, Inge, Isabelle Grunberg, and Marc A. Stern. Global Public Goods: International Cooperation in the 21st Century (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999).

Lawrence, Robert Z. Regionalism, Multilateralism, and Deeper Integration (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 1996).

Limpo, Nuno. The Strategic Use of Trade Policy for Non-Trade Purposes in Multilateral and Regional Agreements (New York: Thesis (Ph. D.), Columbia University, 2001).

Malanzcuk, Peter. “The International Criminal Court and Landmines: What Are the Consequences of Leaving the US Behind?” European Journal of International Law 11, 1 (2000): 77–90.

Martin, Lisa. Democratic Commitments: Legislatures and International Co-operation (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000).

Nolan, Janne E., ed. Global Engagement: Cooperation and Security in the 21st Century (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 1994).

Núñez, Joseph R. A 21st Century Architecture for the Americas: Multilateral Cooperation, Liberal Peace, and Soft Power (Carlisle Barracks, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, Army War College, 2002).

Patrick, Stewart, and Shepard Forman, eds. Multilateralism & U.S. Foreign Policy: Ambivalent Engagement (Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2002).

Régnier, Phillipe, and Daniel Warner, eds. Japan and Multilateral Diplomacy (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2001).

Sewell, James P., ed. Multilateralism in Multinational Perspective: Viewpoints From Different Languages and Literatures (Basingstoke: Macmillan; Tokyo: United Nations University Press, 2000).

Smouts, Marie-Claude. “Multilateralism from Below: A Prerequisite for Global Governance,” in Michael Schechter, ed., Future Multilateralism (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999).

Twining, David Thomas. Beyond Multilateralism (Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 1998).

Williams, Abiodun, ed. Many Voices: Multilateral Negotiations in the World Arena (Boulder: Westview Press, 1992).

Williams, Phil. “Multilateralism: Critique and Appraisal,” in Michael Brenner, ed., Multilateralism and Western Strategy (London: St. Martin’s, 1995).

Zartman, I. William. International Multilateral Negotiation: Approaches to the Management of Complexity (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1994).