The Index of Countries’ Support for UN-based Multilateralism: Construction, Verification, and Correlates

Global cooperation and a strong United Nations (UN) system are needed to implement shared global goals such as the Paris Climate Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. For the first time, we present a new index of Nation-States’ support for UN-based multilateralism (UN-Mi) based on the principles established in the UN Charter in 1945. We use six headline indicators and follow best practices to verify the statistical validity and robustness of our construct. Our findings suggest that there are significant differences in countries’ support for UN-based multilateralism. Some large economic powers showcase low and declining support for UN-based multilateralism. The poor performance of the United States and some of its allies suggests that the concepts of “Rules-Based-International Order” and “UN-based multilateralism” are truly distinct, and arguably, even opposite, frameworks. Our statistical analysis confirms that the UN-Mi captures something different than other existing constructs that aim to capture, for instance, the size of diplomatic networks or people's confidence in the UN.