Problems such as pollution, species and habitat loss, climate control, hazardous wastes, deforestation, and other environmental problems no longer just affect one or a few countries. These issues are beginning to affect the entire world. Multilateralism is defined as negotiations between more than two states and have existed throughout history. One of the most famous instances of multilateral diplomacy was the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Today, these types of negotiations have been institutionalized in international organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, etc.
States see multilateral negotiations as a threat to their national sovereignty.
Some argue that this should be suspended when countries act like individuals when trading. Immunity in trade would lead to an unfair advantage. The liberal theory of international relations argues that all states should trade without restrictions, but all nations have some sort of trade law governing the products sold in their country and the products they sell to others. If the countries were immune from actions in foreign courts, they could have free reign on any type of trade practices they like would like to implement, including protectionism. The liberal theories on this subject claim that when countries are in situations where they must interact with each other often, they are more likely to cooperate.