Social Science Research Council

In March 2003, the Program on Global Security and Cooperation took up a fresh strand of research work on multilateralism as impacted by new realities of power and various contemporary challenges that are currently putting strains on the international system.

Impelled, in part, by our long-standing concern with threats emanating from weapons of mass destruction, this project responds to polarized worldviews and the infamous impasse in the U.N. Security Council in the months preceding the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, ostensibly ineffective instruments of multilateral arms control, hitherto unrestrained nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea, and related developments.

The oft-lamented legitimacy crisis of multilateralism stems, in our reading, from a combination of factors going far beyond the fussy behavior of several bad-tempered states in the run up to the war in Iraq. Multilateral institutions, largely creations of the post-World War II or Cold War environment, share an inter-state structure inadequate to face reinvigorated demands of state sovereignty cum political will when juxtaposed against humanitarian intervention or human rights, for example. Add to this the lacking ability of the international community to respond to such emerging threats as HIV/AIDS epidemics, non-state terrorism, or ecological threats that cross boundaries and cannot be tackled by states alone. Undoubtedly, this state of affairs requires that we revisit the foundations of multilateralism and consider what new norms, institutions, and forms of cooperation may be needed to tackle these challenges effectively.

This project consists of two principal activities:

Overall, this initiative hopes not only to add fresh perspectives on multilateralism and the complex challenges it faces in contemporary international relations, but also to offer widely publicized policy recommendations in a number of functional issue areas. In keeping with our tradition of producing highly relevant knowledge and convening leading international social scientists to address vexing issues of the day, our goal is to develop new perspectives on these issues, explore the U.S. role and that of other major actors, and offer problem-solving solutions.