Evolution of Participation in International Organization

The United States Experience

Abstract

The misapprehension that, because of its isolationist tradition and rejection of the League of Nations, the United States eschewed the joining of multipartite public international organizations prior to World War II is controverted by historical evidence. Except for noninvolvement in Europe's alliances prior to the 1940s, infact, the United States has participated enthusiastically in multilateral as well as bilateral international agencies in which it has a vital interest or which it regards as beneficial in implementing its foreign relations.