Introduction: multilateralism in crisis

Multilateralism is not a static system made up of unchanging norms and organizations. It does not even have any significant invariable core. On the contrary, multilateralism has experienced and still experiences quite remarkable transformations. To be sure, these transformations should not be depicted as a continuous thread of changes: several stages or ideal types can be identified in the evolution of the multilateral system. It can also be argued that the change from one stage to the other has to do with other changes in some key variables of the world order, in the sense in which Robert W. Cox uses this term. In an openly speculative manner, this article suggests a history of multilateralism (and its different strands) understood as the institutional expression of the international society.