The US and International Organisations - US Hegemony and International Organizations - Book Review

Contemporary Review, March, 2004 by Peter Hylarides

US Hegemony and International Organizations. Rosemary Foot, S. Neil MacFarlane and Michael Mastanduno, editors. Oxford University Press. [pounds sterling]50.00 ([pounds sterling]18.99 p.b.). 296 pages. ISBN 0-19-926142-3.

With the debate on the alleged multilateralism of the United States intensifying, this new book on US behaviour towards global and regional organisations, and its impact on the capacity of these organisations to meet their own objectives, brings out the true significance of unfolding events. It is definitely not a book for those with only a superficial interest in the matter. The editors presuppose, at the very least, a thorough knowledge of US foreign policy and of the leading international organisations and rightly so. Those with a distinct lack of understanding of the subject are doing enough damage as it is.

Three editors and ten contributors, all experts in their respective fields, have combined their efforts to present us with a collection of intertwined discourses, treating nearly all aspects of the American role in international organisations. The book is divided into three parts: the first part explores the underlying American ambivalence towards multilateral rules and organisations; the second and third parts are entirely devoted to the role of the United States in global and regional organisations while current developments are put into an historical context. The editors have written both the extensive introduction and conclusion.

There can be no doubt about the prominence of the United States in the field of international relations and its behaviour is a matter of great relevance to the organisations in which the US particpates, and to those in which they are not involved. For European readers, chapter nine on the US and Europe, is, without a doubt, particularly interesting. Unfortunately, this book was compiled before the major split between the US and some of its European allies over the war in Iraq. Nevertheless, one of the contributors, Professor Haglund of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, makes a valid point on future relations between the Americans and NATO. He suspects the latter to become more 'Europeanised', with less of America in it, as he asks the rhetorical question, 'if NATO can continue to assure the security of Western Europeans ... why should the Europeans bother to invest much of their scarce resources in defence, a policy area in which they have been content to under-invest for decades?' The answer to that lies somewhere in the future.

One thing is for certain. The transatlantic rift will not heal overnight, although there are some signs that Europeans are more willing to bridge the gap between them and the United States. In June this year the EU adopted its first common security strategy, with even the Germans saying that when diplomacy and sanctions fail, the European Union should be prepared to fight in order to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Within a relatively short period of time there will be enough material for a revision of this particular chapter.

What general conclusions are we to derive from this interesting study? The evidence presented in this book points to what the editors call 'instrumental multilateralism' on the part of the United States. This means that effectively, the US makes a careful cost-benefit calculation when it comes to multilateral engagement. Through America's sheer size and position in the world she can afford to discriminate in order to achieve her objectives. As far as issues of security are concerned, the US appears to be more unilateral in its approach, which is altogether understandable when we look, for example, at the reluctance of European govenrments to deal with threats beyond their scope.

A clear pattern of growing US rejection of multilateral organisations, however, cannot be distilled from the contributions to this work. There is also no reason to assume that 'uni-polarity' automatically leads to unilateralism. Participating in global organisations can be highly advantageous. It makes it easier for the Americans to influence evolving agendas in world politics and to avoid direct engagement in costly and controversial issues. Involvement also allows America to promote democratic and market reforms and plays a vital role in the legitimisation of US power.

With an even-handed approach, the editors and contributors have produced a work of sound judgement and excellent scholarship, which will feed the on-going debate on the role of the United States in international organisations for some time.