ABSTRACT
In September 2002, the Bush administration issued a major foreign policy and defense statement, "The National Security Strategy of the United States of America." The critics of current US foreign policy argue, however, that the administration pays only lip service to multilateralism and has extended only tepid support to multilateral institutions and alliances, as well as international agreements. In post-Cold War diplomacy, a stark reality therefore persists: States act in a self-interested fashion. The growth of civil society through the global proliferation of nongovernmental organizations reflects another major change in the distribution of power and in the uses of multilateral diplomacy. The UN must be there to pick up the pieces, particularly given the short attention span of many Americans, which is shared by most administrations in Washington. Criticisms of the United Nations abound regarding the various peacekeeping activities that the UN has undertaken, especially those ordered since the end of the Cold War.
