"Unfortunately, the decision to invade Iraq despite the opposition of most members of the Security Council has effectively opened the door to an era of greater instability. This is especially troubling given recent precedents of the emergence of
unilateralism, at Kyoto, at trade talks, and at two major UN conferences (World Summit on Sustainable Development and the World Conference Against Racism). Now more than ever, there is need for unity and respect among nations, and for the democratisation and strengthening of global governance institutions."
(OECD Observer,
Civil society at a time of global uncertainty, visited 2010-03-10)
"This term has two quite different meanings in trade policy. The first is the praiseworthy policy or action of lowering tariffs or removing other impediments to trade unilaterally without the expectation of reciprocal action by others. The second meaning is the desire to impose one's view of the desirable features of global trade policy or trade in a particular product on others, and have it accepted by them. Unilateralism of this kind only works if one has the advantage of overwhelming economic dominance, but success is not assured even then. It can achieve some of one's objectives, but it usually leads to a prolonged adversarial atmosphere. For most countries, the cost exacted in terms of resources to be used and the likely benefits to gain would not make it an option anyway."
(Goode, W., Dictionary of Trade Policy Terms, Fourth Edition, Cambridge [UK]: Cambridge University Press, 2003, p. 375)
Unilateralism can be opposed to multilateralism when dealing with international trade disputes. Proponents of unilateralism will tend to prefer bilateral agreements. A multilateral approach generally aims to support equality in international trade and avoid discriminating against less developed countries.
