A Multilateral Perspective on
International Development
Presentation by
James P. Muldoon, Jr.
Vice Chair, The Mosaic Institute
This Presentation Will Cover
• Multilateralism – conceptualization and
practice in international relations
• International Development – a primary focal
point of a multilateral approach/process
• The nexus between setting the International
Development Agenda and multilateral policymaking
MULDOON
Meaning(s) of Multilateralism
• Key concept in International Relations
• Policy coordination among three or more
states
• Primary norm of diplomacy and diplomatic
practice
• An institutional form of collective action and
core component of the global governance
architecture
MULDOON
Key Characteristics of Multilateralism
• “Traditional” characteristics:
- Intergovernmental/interstate relations
- Commitment to (or an ideology of) collective action on
international problems or issues
- Processes and procedures by which states and other “entities
with standing” interact and conduct their relations
- “Taken-for-granted” status norm in world politics
• “Emerging” characteristics:
- Non-state actors (e.g., NGOs, MNCs, PPPs)
- Multi-layered, -level, and/or -sector
- Complexity of and institutional adaptation to globalization and
systemic change
MULDOON
International Development and the
Multilateral System
• Economic and Social Development is one of the four
pillars of the international order
• FDR’s Four Freedoms Speech (1941) presaged the key
role of economic security (opportunity, employment,
social security, and adequate healthcare) in the aims of
the Allies’ war effort and the post-war peace
• Norms of, strategies for, and approaches to International
Development have been driven by multilateral bodies
which were created after WWII
• NIEO, the “Washington Consensus”, Sustainable
Development, and Human Development are all the
product of multilateral processes
MULDOON
Elements of a New Multilateral
Approach/Process
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Public-Private Partnerships
Stakeholder engagement/involvement
‘people-centered’
Multi-disciplinary
Focus on new technologies, human rights,
sustainability & inter-generational equity, and
democratic governance
MULDOON
The Nexus Between Agenda-setting
and Policy-making
• International development agenda is no longer the exclusive
domain of states and inter-governmental organizations
• Issues on the agenda encompass a wide range of distinct yet
integrated concerns:
– Managing economic growth and the widening inequities between rich and
poor
– Investing in health and education
– Providing safety nets and social protection
– Advancing democracy and good governance
• These issues arise from the massive changes in the world economy
wrought by globalization
• Setting such an agenda requires complex negotiations that bridges
the divide of private and public
MULDOON
The Nexus
• International development policies are just as complex, if not more so, to
produce as is the agenda to which they correspond
• Policies must be informed by views from myriad stakeholders at multiple
levels as to what constitutes success
• Development policies must also have “buy-in” from these same
stakeholders to have any real chance of succeeding or being implemented
effectively
• International development policy-making is an increasingly complicated
process involving a complex set of interactions between states, civil
society groups, and business whose interests need to be aligned
• The interactive dynamic of policy-making creates myriad constellations of
actors in free-flowing networks and ad hoc arrangements that pervade the
international policy milieu and animates international organizations and
emerging forms of multilateralism
MULDOON
A Multilateral Perspective Demands
New Thinking
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Changing practices
Different context
More actors
New and expanding norms
Variations of forms and processes
MULDOON