Atlantic Multilateralism and Prospects for Pan-Atlantic Institutions: An Historical Perspective

Scientific Paper, nº. 28

The paper analyses the evolution of Atlantic multilateralism from an historical perspective from the modern era up to the present. It argues that, despite the continuing vitality of Atlantic multilateralism, pan-Atlantic institutions remain an elusive quest and Atlanticism may not be the most promising vision for bringing together a plurality of Atlantic basin countries which display a diversity of foreign policy and normative orientations. The Atlantic basin will remain a lead world laboratory for multilateral initiatives and tools, but mainly at the sub-regional level. In some functional areas such as maritime security, Atlantic-wide regimes could emerge over time.