Let’s begin with a simple question: What is multilateralism? Multilateralism is when three or more countries work together to solve global problems. It’s like teamwork between nations. These problems could be about climate change, wars, poverty, health, or trade.
Big international organizations such as the United Nations (UN), World Health Organization (WHO) and World Trade Organization (WTO) are examples of multilateralism. These factions help countries to meet, decide and act in a comparable manner.
This system assisted in mediating peace, advancing trade, combating illness and saving the planet over several decades. However, now multilateralism has become problematic. The world is becoming divided and countries are no longer working together as they did in the past.
Let’s explore why multilateralism is struggling in today’s fractured world.
The World Is Becoming More Divided
The world feels like it’s breaking into pieces. Countries are forming smaller groups, only working with close allies and not everyone.
Examples:
- The war between Russia and Ukraine has brought a huge gap between Western nations and other nations such as Russia and China.
- Power rivalry is between countries such as China and the U.S. rather than cooperation between them.
Due to this, the trust among nations is decreasing. There is no collaboration but blame games, shoving fingers and isolation.
The Rise of Protectionism: “My Country First”
In many countries, leaders are saying, “We will protect our country first.” This is called protectionism. It means:
- Putting high taxes on goods from other countries
- Making rules that support local businesses only
- Avoiding free trade deals
This is detrimental to multilateral organizations such as the WTO, which promotes free trade (the buying and selling of goods across their borders freely).
Example: The U.S. and China have been fighting a trade war since 2018. Both raised taxes (called tariffs) on each other’s goods. This fight made other countries worry, and trade slowed down. It also weakened trust in global systems.
Global Trust Is Falling
Today, many people across the world are losing trust in global organizations. A major contributing factor is what occurred with COVID-19; there was a sentiment that the World Health Organization (WHO) was so slow in acting. It also makes people angry when the United Nations (UN) is unable to prevent wars or conflicts in other nations. In these large international organizations, poor countries usually feel that they are not being listened to.
They feel ignored while richer and more powerful countries make all the big decisions. This makes many think that these international groups are unfair. It seems like only the powerful countries benefit, and the smaller or weaker ones are left out. Because of this, trust in global cooperation is slowly falling.
BRICS and the Push for Multipolarity
The world used to be mostly led by the West; the U.S. and Europe. But now, other countries are rising. They say: “We want our group!”
One such group is BRICS; Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. It is growing stronger and wants:
- A new bank (New Development Bank)
- Their global currency (instead of the U.S. dollar)
- More say in global decisions
Recently, BRICS included six new countries, like Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran. This indicates that multipolarity (multiple loci of power) is replacing unipolarity (one global leader).
This sounds balanced, but it also breaks apart unity. BRICS and the West can disagree from time to time, which undermines multilateral cooperation.
Lack of Reforms in Global Organizations
After World War II, many global organizations were established, but the world has evolved significantly. Unfortunately, these associations are still pursuing ancient principles that are incompatible with modern requirements. The nations of Africa, Latin America, and Asia are now interested in greater participation in decisions, and they find themselves excluded.
Countries like India, Brazil, South Africa are calling out to amend the Security Council within the UN to enhance its fairness. Such transformations are occurring at a snail pace. As a result of such procrastination, a number of countries lose confidence in these ancient regimes and start establishing their own circles, whether in BRICS or smaller regional unions. They want to have a possibility to open places where they could be listened to and their interests taken into consideration.
Climate Change Crisis: A Global Problem, but No Unity
Climate change is a dangerous issue that covers the entire world. Nobody can do it individually; therefore, everybody has to play a role. However, when there are big meetings such as the COP summits, measurements tend to disagree. They argue over who must reduce emissions first, whether the wealthy nations must donate money to the poor ones, and whether it is just to go to cleaner energy with everybody.
There are the countries, which promise to fulfill it but fail and there are those, which do not even join global climate deals. As an example, the U.S. withdrew from the Paris agreement in 2017, and rejoined in 2021. China continues to construct coal-based power plants, and a lot of affluent countries have failed to deliver the funds committed to the poorer countries. This reveals that there is still lack of global solidarity.
Fake News and Propaganda
Today, fake news spreads very easily through social media. Anyone can post lies, and many people believe them without checking. Some governments even use fake news on purpose to blame other countries or attack global organizations. This creates a lot of confusion and makes people angry at each other. Because of this, even good efforts by international groups to bring peace or share the truth are called fake or unfair.
People stop trusting these groups. When no one knows what to believe, it becomes very hard for countries to work together. If everyone is busy fighting over what is true or false, then solving real problems becomes almost impossible. This makes global cooperation much more difficult.
What Can Be Done to Save Multilateralism?
Even though multilateralism is struggling, it’s not dead. Many people and leaders still believe in global teamwork. Here’s how we can fix and improve it:
Reform global organizations
Many global organizations still follow rules made long ago. These rules need to change. Every country, big or small, should get an equal chance to speak and make decisions. Developing nations must be treated fairly and included in important talks. Updating old systems can help everyone work better together and solve problems faster.
Build trust again
Nations must also begin communicating honestly and respectfully with one another. They need to listen and understand each other instead of making blames on each other when something is wrong. Confidence takes time, and it means a lot. Once nations believe in one another, they are able to collaborate and discover superior solutions to the world.
Share fairly
The poor countries need support to develop as well, although they possess less money, science, and technology as compared to the rich. The world can be a better place by sharing resources such as vaccines, clean energy tools, and climate support. The fairness in sharing available resources ensures that every nation feels accepted and encouraged. This assists every person in combating international challenges as a team.
Educate people
Educating children and adults on global unity, peace and team work is of great essence. Such good messages can be spread through schools, TV, and social media. The world will be a friendlier and safer space when individuals learn to know more about other cultures and learn how to cooperate with each other. Learning is what forms a better future for everyone.
Fight lies with truth
Fake news may lead to a great deal of damage and misunderstanding. We have to fight against it by spreading real facts and true information by the help of trusted sources such as good news websites, teachers and experts. When individuals possess real information they will find it difficult to believe lies. This assists all to be aware and make better decisions.
Is Multilateralism in Decline?
Multilateralism is like teamwork between countries, and it is still very important for solving big problems like climate change, war, and poverty. But today, this teamwork is not working well. Countries are fighting, trust is broken, and global groups are not fair to all. Fake news and selfish actions make things worse. Still, we should not give up.
If countries talk honestly, share fairly, and update old systems, we can fix things. Education and truth are also powerful tools to bring people together. The world is better when we work as one big team. Even in a divided world, multilateralism can survive; if we choose peace, fairness, and unity over fear, power, and blame.
Article by Rachna