Includes bibliographical references and index.

Themes. Saving humanity from hell / Communication multilateralism / The contigent legitimacy of multilateralism / Power and world order / Multilateralism, sovereignty and normative change in world politics / From (alleged) unipolarity to the decline of multilateralism? A power-theoretical critique / The genealogy of multilateralism : reflections on an organizational form and its crisis / Multilateral crises in historical perspective / Issues and challenges. Something old, something new : theoretical perspectives on contemporary international peace and security / Weapons of mass destruction / International humanitarianism in the contemporary world : forms and issues / Progess and problems in the multilateral human rights regime / Environmental multilateralism under challenge? / AIDS, power, culture and multilateralism / The uninvited challenge : terrorism targets the United Nations / Civil wars, globalization, and the "Washington Consensus" / Using military force for human protection : what next? / Social movements and multilateralism / Multilateralism and economic justice / From unilateralism to bilateralism : challenges for the multilateral trade system / Multilateralism as a way of life in Europe / Between a rock and a hard place : Latin America and multilateralism after 9/11 / From economic to security multilateralism : great powers and international order in the Asia Pacific / multilateralism under challenge or in crisis? /