大西洋憲章と多国間主義

多国間主義の検証

抄録

“Does the United States deal with international problems alone, or with others?” The world is concerned over America's diplomatic course of action, unilateral or multilateral. Now that America, the only super power in the world, has parted from traditional “isolationism, ” the question at issue is not whether it “will” or “will not” make commitments to international affairs, but “how” it will.
America's insistence on multilateralism is relatively new in American diplomatic history. The Atlantic Charter is claimed to be one of the first documents that revealed its preference for multilateralism. The Atlantic Charter is a joint statement by Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill made in August 1941, which expressed their will to cooperate for the “better future for the world.” Some of the articles in the charter referred to the realization of a liberal trade system and international organizations, hence the understanding of the charter as a document on economic and political multilateralism. The charter's incorporation in the Declaration by the United Nations in 1942 also contributed toward the understanding of such a document.
Multilateralism, seen in the Atlantic Charter, has relevance to the original study in the United States on world peace and America's role in international politics, proceeded since the 1930's. For example, its groping for social stability by enhancing economic cooperation, and also for world leadership from its own standpoint as seen in the Reciprocal Trade Treaty Act in 1934 and Wells Mission in 1940, were signs of America's positive commitments to world affairs. These kinds of diplomatic activities were seen both before and after America's entrance to the Second World War. This paper aims to examine multilateralism in the Atlantic Charter by analyzing American preference for the idea of multilateral cooperation before and after the announcement of the Atlantic Charter.