We no longer live in a US-led unipolar era – and that may be a good thing. But as power has shifted to other parts of the globe, multilateralism – the idea of international cooperation in pursuit of the common good – has tragically unravelled.
On one level, of course the concept survives: countries in the global west, east, north and south occasionally take responsibility for cooperating on big crises. Think of Kenya, leading a UN-backed mission, which will deploy soon, to assist the Haitian police in stabilising the country.
