MANAGING THE EVOLUTION OF MULTILATERALISM

One of the most prominent characteristics of multilateral organization s is that they do not ''spring forth full blown''; they grow. Although this is well known, relatively few attempts have been made to explain it at a general level or to explore its implications. In this paper w e show why states that desire to create a multilateral organization or agreement might be attracted to a strategy that involves admitting po tential members sequentially based on their preferences. Such a ''sequ ential construction'' strategy can generate an unusual kind of structu re-induced equilibrium that dramatically mitigates the breadth-depth t rade-off and increases the level of cooperation a multilateral is able to attain. We evaluate these claims with data drawn from the history of the European Union and twenty environmental multilaterals.