ABSTRACT
The Introduction presents, on the one hand, the book structure and general European perspective interacting with multilateral cooperation, taking distance from both Eurosceptic and Euroenthusiastic international literature. On the other hand, the methodological issues and the main conceptual framework are anticipated. Multilateralism is under challenge: the efficiency, representation and legitimacy of multilateral cooperation were at stake even before the Russian war. However, the combination of the historical approach with the comparative regionalist method may allow research to identify constructive trends and real tendencies in various continents and at a global level, making the European perspective not an isolated case study but a realistic scenario among others.
