ABSTRACT
The United Nations occupies a central and unique place in world politics, and it plays a leading role on the world diplomatic stage with an expanding cast of players, which now includes multilateral organizations, regional institutions, governments, commercial interests, nongovernmental entities, and individuals. The post-World War II years saw major developments in many aspects of human and world affairs, increasing the complexity of multilateral diplomacy and its content. The end of the Cold War has been marked by considerable uncertainty in some aspects of international relations, as well as the emergence of new concerns, adding to an already overcrowded international agenda. Over the period of the UN's existence there has been a considerable growth of various types of multilateral forums—subregional, regional, and supraregional, many of them intergovernmental bodies. The United Nations and its member states have been moving rapidly toward the greater use of the Internet in multilateral diplomacy. In the multilateral system, diplomats play multiple roles.
