The multilateralist tone he struck in the speech will come as music to the ears of many in Europe.
But with each passing month, as Saddam remained defiant and Bush kept massing forces around Iraq, the two principles appeared increasingly incompatible, and Annan began speaking of a grim day of reckoning ahead for the multilateralist order.
To be sure, he added, "There are two visions of the world" — the multilateralist, U.N.-centered vision of collective security under international law touted by France, and the unilateralist, imperial vision represented by the United States — "but we need to work together".
Ultimately, the differences between the multilateralists the unilateralists, the neo-imperialists, the minimalists and all the others "ists" may not be as sharp as many make out.
The more determined Iran seems to build a bomb, adds another from the more multilateralist camp, the greater will be the pressure to act against it.Force is an option and must remain so, says Michael Krepon of the Henry L. Stimson Centre, an independent think-tank in Washington, DC.
Mr Powell, the most multilateralist member of the cabinet, is building relations with the allies.It will not be easy to keep these different voices singing from the same sheet.
The broader multilateralist order of the Western world, represented by nato and the European Union, appeared to be coming apart at the seams.
It is true that, despite the unilateralist reputation of the Bush administration, America has so far more or less accepted the European multilateralist rules of the game on Iraq.
In Kosovo, the diplomatic multilateralist clashed with British commanders who thought he wanted to start a world war by attacking the Russians.
There would be an apt moment for him to remind the states of the globe that, under his presidency, we as a country are finally back to being the leading multilateralist nation on earth.
Robert G. Wright, Canada's ambassador to Japan, said, "For 40 years, Japanese were the strongest multilateralists on the block, then they suddenly felt very isolated, with free trade associations all around them".
