Giving Compass' Take:

· Throughout U.S. history, multilateralism has been seen as an important part of governing to serve U.S. interests. With the new administration in office, this has changed. If Americans are not going to participate, the whole system may unravel, having a significant effect on the UN's new education drive.

· How can Americans still support multilateralism and the UN's new education drive?

· Read more on multilateralism and how to make humanitarian communities.

All things considered, the United Nations could have chosen a better week to launch an initiative designed to raise $10bn to invest in global education. That this is not exactly a golden age for multilateralism was underlined last week when Donald Trump decided that the US was going to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal despite strong lobbying from Germany, France and the UK. Trump has his own way of doing things and for the most part that involves unravelling the legacy of his predecessor.

Barack Obama signed up for the Paris climate change deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement (TPP) and the accord that lifted sanctions on Iran, and Trump has said all three suck and need to be renegotiated. The current White House only sees a merit in internationalism when it clearly furthers the president’s America First agenda. This is a high-risk strategy. The US is already on the brink of a trade war with China that could easily develop into a currency war. There have already been ramifications in the Middle East from the unpicking of the Iran deal.

The US has not completely given up on multilateralism. Trump initially seemed reluctant to give the go-ahead for a $13bn capital increase for the World Bank that would allow the Washington-based organisation to lend more. In the end, the Bank got its money – but only once it had agreed to reforms that would make borrowing more expensive for China.

Even so, the rest of the world can no longer take for granted that the US will play a pivotal role in any attempts to craft multilateral solutions to global problems. For 70 years, American presidents took the view that multilateralism – even when flawed – served US interests. That is no longer always the case. And if the Americans are not prepared to participate, there is a risk that the whole system will start to unravel. No other country is really prepared to take up the role of global leadership.

Which is why the new UN education initiative – the International Finance Facility for Education – is significant. Unveiled in New York last Friday, the idea is being championed by the former prime minister Gordon Brown, now the UN special envoy for global education.

Read the full article about multilateralism and UN's education drive by Larry Elliott at theguardian.com