The UN and the future of multilateralism

Pressure for reform has been growing from developed and developing countries alike on the United Nations 'system' of specialised agencies and there now seems to be a consensus on the need both to retain the system and to improve its operation. This Briefing Paper examines the criticisms, and looks at what might be done to correct the UN's shortcomings. The paper argues that the future of multilateralism will depend more on changes in the attitude of member states than on constitutional reforms of the UN system.