Historically, diplomacy was conceived as an inter-state practice. While it has accompanied the settlement of European wars since the 17th century, its mobilization in the settlement of intra-state conflicts such as civil wars came later. It wasn't until the creation of the United Nations, a few ad hoc initiatives during the Cold War and, above all, the end of the Cold War, that international diplomacy played a growing role in the mediation of civil wars. However, these latter conflicts are often violent, fragmented and/or marked by extensive interference from outside powers (Bosnia, Libya, Syria, Yemen). As a result, failures to resolve conflicts through diplomatic means appear to be more frequent than "successes" (Colombia).

This introduction questions the idea of a "crisis" of multilateralism. It first recalls that the historical advancement of multilateralism and the steady empowerment of international organizations have always been accompanied by simultaneous destabilizing crises, from the League of Nations inability to prevent World War II up to the United Nations' long paralysis during the Cold War. Multilateralism does not seem to be in a better shape today after the assaults of President Trump against its core values and institutions, the "sanitary sovereignty" displayed by States in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the failure of the UN in the "management" of deadly armed conflicts such as the war in Syria and the war in Ukraine. However, the purpose of this book is threefold: to deconstruct the diagnosis of a "crisis" of multilateralism, to consider the concept of "crisis" as a matrix of multilateralism historical dynamic, and to demonstrate the current resilience of multilateralism.

This book explores the challenges that multilateralism faces today and questions the idea of a 'crisis' of multilateral cooperation and international organizations. It accounts for the pressures on and power shifts in multilateralism in recent years - such as the war in Syria, the Covid-19 pandemic, challenges for NATO, the erosion of multilateral norms, the transition from Trump to Biden, the rise of China, the post-Brexit European Union, and the mobilization of countries from the South. The authors illustrate the resilience of multilateralism and lessons learned from the WTO, UN Women, International Organizations' Secretariats and global environmental governance. Written in part by members of the Research Group on Multilateral Action (GRAM), this volume argues that 'crisis' should not be considered a pathology but the 'matrix' of multilateralism, which is more resilient than commonly thought. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of International Relations, global governance, and international organizations.

Putin's Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has resurrected a type of conventional warfare in Europe that was thought to have disappeared. A majority of the world's states, including those mobilized within the UN General Assembly, condemned it as a war of aggression. Russia is paying the price in a certain isolation and exclusion from many international organizations. And yet, two years after the start of the war, the prospects of a negotiated peace seem unlikely.