United States Foreign Policy and Multilateral Institutional Effectiveness
In a 1998 interview, then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright referred to the United States an "indispensible nation" in world affairs. The U.S. "stands tall" and "sees further into the future than other nations." Its interests cannot be sacrificed in pursuit of multilateral cooperation and thus must be taken into account if such cooperation is to be successful. This thesis seeks to address this claim empirically by examining the level of United States involvement in several treaty negotiations after 1990 in order to assess its impact on the ability of institutions to be effective. The International Criminal Court, The Montreal Protocol, The Kyoto Protocol, and The International Aid Transparency Initiative are examined as case studies to determine if U.S. cooperation is necessary for institutional effectiveness.