United States and Multilateralism: A brief Summary on David P. Forsythe's Distinguished Conference

Abstract

What is the future of multilateral organizations? On the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations (UN), Professor Forsythe addressed this question by stressing the importance of the role of the United States in multilateral organizations. During the lecture, he identified the emergence of populist nationalism as an existential threat to international organizations and multilateralism. However, for Prof. Forsythe, there is still hope for saving international organizations, as countries understand the importance of cooperation in multilateralism. countries understand the importance of multilateral cooperation. He builds his argument, first, by explaining U.S. multilateral relations throughout history. Second, he presents the changes in U.S. foreign policy since 2016, and finally, he points out the future risk of multilateralism in three examples. Through his argument, he maintains optimism by asserting, "the game is not is not over yet" for international cooperation.