The Signing of the North Atlantic Treaty : A Case for Multilateralism

This article demonstrates the adoption of a multilateral mindset by great powers in the aftermath of the Second World War. It argues that after 1945 the United States, Britain, France, and Canada started to cooperate on security issues based on the basic principles of multilateralism. They came to believe that security is an indivisible issue and that cooperation in security issues should be based on reciprocal obligations in such a way of not to discriminate against any participant. Moreover, they believed this cooperation should target a long-term relationship illuminated by mutual understanding rather than quid-pro-quos driven by shoft-term national interests