multilateral
adjective
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Since lateral means "side", multilateral means basically "many-sided". The philosophy of multilateralism claims that the best solutions generally result when as many of the world's nations as possible are involved in discussions, and multilateralists often favor strengthening the United Nations. Today multilateralism can be seen at work in, for example, the World Health Organization, the World Trade Organization, and the International Criminal Court. But the U.S. doesn't always join the major multilateral organizations, instead often behaving as if a unilateral approach—that is, going it alone—was best for the interests of a powerful nation.
Examples of multilateral in a Sentence
Lawrence O. Gostin, Scientific American, 19 June 2024
Washington is also leading the charge on Israel’s side in multilateral forums to assert that direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians—and not unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state—hold the key to progress between the parties.
—Shalom Lipner, Foreign Affairs, 11 June 2024
The current system of global financing — multilateral and bilateral funding, and philanthropy — isn’t sufficient to meaningfully improve global health.
—Vanessa Kerry, STAT, 31 May 2024
Established in 2002, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (or The Global Fund) has worked as an independent, multilateral financing entity over the past 20 years to raise resources and funding to fight AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria.
—Molly Peck, USA TODAY, 12 May 2024
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'multilateral.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Multilateral.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/multilateral. Accessed 2 Jul. 2024.
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multilateral
adjective
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