Justin – Week 7

This week I will focus on the reading on multilateralism, “We’ve Been Here Before: The Durability of Multilateralism.” Before I start this article mentioned the involvement of global powers views/support for and against Israel. Obviously this has been a central topic for multilateral institutions and I hope to further discuss the reasons for that in class, or if someone with more knowledge or that topic could respond to this post due to Israel’s current state.

The article begins by focusing on Trump’s isolationist views. The reason for these views by Trump came down to finances. He felt that other countries involved whether it was the United Nations or NATO were not contributing their part financially and that the United States was pulling everyone’s weight. Trump was also trying to fight regulatory agencies such as the WTO, World Bank and the IMF. He did not like the idea of other entities placing more regulations on the United States that could not be aligned with their economic or national security interest.

Trump has a good point on these issues, but I believe the question is, how much are you willing to pay for security/quality of life? The last century has evolved the world into an interlaced economic powerhouse. The cause of this is relationships that have spanned the entire globe due to these institutions. The United States has also thrived being the hegemonic power and with that comes more responsibility. I do think the other countries should be withholding their ends of these institutions such as defense spending percentages and trade agreements, but the reason the rest of the world typically caters to the United States is because of the economic influence brought about through these institutions due to our contributions. In order to remain/continue to pursue being the hegemonic power of the world, I think having the most influence in these multilateral institutions is where it starts.