security, the containment of organized crime and terrorism, the enhancement of
welfare—cannot be provided by states alone. They must be provided collectively,
be it at global or at regional levels. Notwithstanding the increasing importance of
non-state actors, interstate cooperation, primarily via international organiza-
tions, is still at the heart of successful global policy-making and it is still driven
by thedomestic actor preferencesof powerful countries (Milner 1997 ) whether it
be the US in the international organizations or major state actors at critical
junctures in regional projects. Despite persuasive normative arguments in favor
of collective action problem solving, prospects for enhanced successful multilat-
eral cooperation, via international organizations, should not be exaggerated. For
multilateralism to work, and major international organizations to function, rules
must (self-)bind the hegemon, as well as the smaller players. ‘‘Without the
self-binding of the hegemon, multilateral organizations become empty shells’’
(Martin 2003 , 14 ).
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