From a worldwide pandemic to economic recessions, the assortment of global crises that emerged in 2020 reflect the dysfunction of existing multilateral organizations. Going forward, an expert suggests Canada takes a “minilateral” approach to global affairs. “In Canada, multilateralism became an end in itself rather than a means to promote and protect our values and interests. Multilateralism for multilateralism’s sake is not in our interest,” Balkan Devlen, a senior fellow at the Macdonald Laurier Institute and adjunct research professor at Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University, wrote in his latest article (pdf). “Assuming that every multilateral initiative is good and is in the service of Canadian interests is highly misguided.” In his article, titled “Expanding the toolkit: How minilateralism can help fill the void left by failing international institutions,” Devlen identified the problems of multilateral organizations and how to fix them. The Decline of Multilateralism The first is …