Contested Multilateralism

Contested multilateralism describes how dissatisfied states respond to gridlock or perceived bias in established international institutions not by exiting the system, but by redirecting cooperation toward alternative venues. The concept was developed by Julia C. Morse and Robert O. Keohane in their 2014 article "Contested Multilateralism" in the Review of International Organizations, which distinguishes two strategies:

• Regime shifting: moving an issue to a different existing institution whose rules or membership are more favorable. A frequently cited example is the United States and other industrialized states shifting intellectual property rule-making from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to the GATT/WTO via the TRIPS Agreement in 1994.
• Competitive regime creation: building a new institution that competes with the incumbent. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), launched by China in 2016, is often discussed in this light relative to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

The framework helps explain why the post-1945 order has become denser and more overlapping rather than collapsing. States with sufficient resources and coalition partners use exit threats and outside options to pressure incumbent institutions, while weaker states sometimes join challenger forums to gain voice they lack elsewhere.

Contested multilateralism is distinct from simple forum shopping by individual litigants, from institutional decay, and from outright withdrawal. The challenge must be coordinated, involve a rival institutional arrangement, and target the authority of the incumbent. Analysts also distinguish it from minilateralism (small-group cooperation), though the two often overlap in practice — for example, the BRICS' New Development Bank combines minilateral form with a contested-multilateralism logic.

For researchers, the concept is useful for mapping disputes in climate finance, development lending, internet governance, and global health, where parallel bodies (e.g., COVAX vs. bilateral vaccine deals, or rival cyber norm processes at the UN) compete for legitimacy and resources.