How Multilateralism Can Survive |
Within hours of returning to office, in January 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump took an axe to multilateralism by pulling the United States out of the Paris climate accord and the World Health Organization. The following month, Washington withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council and ordered a review of U.S. commitments to other international institutions, such as UNESCO. In April, Trump took aim at the global trading system, issuing his “Liberation Day” tariffs in violation of World Trade Organization principles.
Trump is not the first American president to attack international institutions, nor are his actions the only cause of their declining relevance. Rising domestic inequality, a consequence of hyperglobalization without adequate support for workers, has fueled discontent with multilateralism in many countries. Most of these organizations, moreover, were established in the twentieth century, and insufficient reform has left them bloated, outdated, and siloed, offering one-size-fits-all remedies for complex problems such as climate change, pandemics, artificial intelligence, and a new nuclear arms race. Still dominated by their creators in North America and Europe, these institutions are poorly suited to govern a world where more and more economic activity and political decision-making happen in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.
This is where regional organizations come in. The world lacks leadership in free trade, technology, conflict management, and human security—and in each of these areas, regional bodies can help bridge the gap. These organizations have been reinforcing and adding to the work of international institutions for decades, and now is the time to expand their portfolios and deepen their cooperation with one another. If they do not step up to the task, the world’s problems will be addressed not through multilateralism but by great powers seeking spheres of influence—a mode of global politics that historically has not ended well for small and medium-sized states.
Regional institutions enjoy certain advantages over global ones. They are closer to the sources of issues and can more quickly and accurately diagnose problems, mitigate them, and prevent future occurrences. Groups of neighboring countries can be more sensitive and responsive to local realities and adapt global governance principles and norms to local contexts. With fewer countries involved in decision-making, there are fewer obstacles to collective action and fewer opportunities to veto proposals. Regional institutions can more quickly correct course when strategies do not work as expected, and they can try novel, untested solutions that an international organization may consider too risky.
Regional organizations are already key facilitators of cross-border trade and investment. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the world’s largest free trade agreement, was signed in November 2020 by Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and all ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. (An 11th country, Timor-Leste, joined ASEAN in October 2025 and has not yet joined RCEP.) Since coming into force in 2022, the RCEP’s rules and tariff reduction policies have strengthened integration and optimized the regional value chain. As additional members join—Bangladesh, Chile, and Sri Lanka have applied—trade and investment within the bloc will likely grow.
Organizations in different regions also work with one another. In 2014, ASEAN established an annual meeting with the Pacific Alliance—a Latin American free trade arrangement comprising Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru—to explore how the two groups can cooperate on sustainable development, the digital and green transitions, support for small and medium-sized firms, and people-to-people exchanges. Most recently, this collaboration has led to the launch of an innovative new tourism initiative and a free trade agreement between the Pacific Alliance and Singapore—one that could become a model for other ASEAN members. The Pacific Alliance also has partnerships and agreements with the European Union, the Eurasian Economic Commission, and the South American trading bloc Mercosur.
In other cases, countries from different regions have come together to promote free trade. The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which became effective in 2018 and includes 12 members across five continents, reduces tariffs and other barriers to free trade and sets rules that protect intellectual property, investment, financial services, the environment, and labor rights. The CPTPP has facilitated trade even amid global disruption; from 2018 to 2021, a period that........