unilateral
adjective
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The world is a smaller place than it used to be, and we get uncomfortable when a single nation adopts a policy of unilateralism—that is, acting independently with little regard for what the rest of the world thinks. A unilateral invasion of another country, for instance, usually looks like a grab for power and resources. But occasionally the world welcomes a unilateral action, as when the U.S. announced unilateral nuclear-arms reductions in the early 1990s. Previously, such reductions had only happened as part of bilateral ("two-sided") agreements with the old Soviet Union. Multilateral agreements, on issues such as climate change, often involve most of the world's nations.
Examples of unilateral in a Sentence
Derek Tran, Oc Register, 6 Mar. 2026
Lawmakers are confronting the sudden reality of representing wary Americans in wartime and all that entails — with lives lost, dollars spent and alliances tested by a president’s unilateral decision to go to war with Iran.
—Lisa Mascaro, Chicago Tribune, 5 Mar. 2026
Obama’s adoption of this legal theory opened the door for any president to engage in acts of war conducted from the air and claim that the War Powers Resolution does not apply — in other words, unilateral presidential war-making became de facto legal under the Obama position.
—Noah Feldman, Twin Cities, 5 Mar. 2026
Congress has not formally declared war since the Second World War, as the executive branch, under Presidents of both parties, has asserted ever-increasing authority to engage in the unilateral use of military force.
—Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 5 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for unilateral
Cite this Entry
“Unilateral.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unilateral. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
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