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Naval Cooperation: A View from Australia
Lieutenant Jenny Zhang, RAN
2009 Winner Officer’s Section
In terms of world politics there are three types of relationships that govern interaction
between states and their relationships, bilateral, multilateral and unilateral. This essay
looks at the definition of unilateralism, bilateralism and multilateralism; the benefits
and drawbacks of unilateralism, bilateralism and multilateralism in a political and global
sense; current bilateral and multilateral cooperation in a maritime environment; and
the ways that naval cooperation can lessen tensions between countries.
Unilateralism, Bilateralism and Multilateralism
Unilateralism is any doctrine or agenda that supports a single-sided action.
Unilateralism is often seen as disregarding of other parties. However, unilateralism
may be preferred in those instances when it’s assumed to be the most efficient, such as
with issues that can be solved without cooperation. At the forefront of the unilateralism
debate is the United States and the Iraq War. Many opponents of the war have argued
that the United States is ‘going in alone’ in Iraq without the support of multilateral
institutions – NATO and the United Nations (UN). This has caused much tension
between the United States, NATO and the UN. Post World War II (WWII) Japan is an
example where unilateralism has been successful. Japan took only five years before
adopting its constitution. On the other hand, Germany was divided into West Germany
and East Germany for 45 years whilst being controlled by the United States, France,
Great Britain and the Soviet Union before being reunited. However one can argue
that post-war Germany should not be seen as a failure on multilateralism due to the
unilateral approach taken by Stalin and the Soviet Union post-WWII.
Bilateralism encompasses the political and cultural relations between two states.
Most international diplomacy is done bilaterally. There is some debate on the merits
of bilateralism versus multilateralism. The first major rejection of bilateralism came
after World War I when many politicians agreed that the complex pre-war system of
bilateral treaties had made the war inevitable. This led to the creation of the multilateral
League of Nations. A similar reaction against bilateral trade agreements occurred after
the Great Depression, when it was argued that such agreements helped to produce a
cycle of rising tariffs that deepened the economic downturn. Thus after WWII, Western
countries turned to multilateral agreements such as the General Agreement on Tariffs
and Trade. Despite the high profile of modern multilateral systems such as the UN
and the World Trade Organization, most diplomacy is still done at the bilateral level.
Bilateralism is considered to be more flexible compared to most multilateral systems.