ABSTRACT
This chapter contributes evidence in relation to the real trends in global governance, making “new multilateralism” not a utopia but a realistic scenario for the coming global order. In this scenario, a multilayered, more binding and more legitimate form of cooperation among states and transnational actors would not be an isolated European case study or a cosmopolitan dream but would be firmed up as a real trend. Alternative scenarios will include, as independent variables, power politics, disintegration/fragmentation and clashes between civilisations. All the concepts included in the complex definition of new multilateralism have been addressed in the various book chapters. It is only the term “diffuse reciprocity” that has not yet been sufficiently fleshed out, whereas it is relevant for the everyday life of what we defined as multilateralism B. Trade has always been one of the traditional drivers of global peace.
