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
Koh Ewe, TIME, 27 Sep. 2024
Barbados on Wednesday released the third draft of its ambitious multilateral overhaul that would free up more money at lower borrowing costs for developing countries in climate crises.
—Niala Boodhoo, Axios, 25 Sep. 2024
Moves that only help to reinforce the idea that the West uses multilateral institutions to criticize its geopolitical adversaries.
—Richard Roth, CNN, 21 Sep. 2024
Bill Gates helped launch a global health revolution at the turn of the 21st century, one in which multilateral humanitarian efforts arrested the AIDS crisis in Africa and began to make strides against longtime killers like tuberculosis and malaria.
—Dylan Scott, Vox, 19 Sep. 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 Oct. 2024.
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multilateral
adjective
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