Unequal actors in equalising institutions : negotiations in the United Nations General Assembly / Diana Panke.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Panke, Diana.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United Nations. General Assembly.

United Nations.

States, Small.

States, Size of.

Physical Description:

xv, 250 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.

Summary:

Does size matter in international negotiations? This book examines the interplay between an institutional design that expresses the principle of the equality of states and the real world size differences of states in an innovative, multi-method investigation of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). It demonstrates that size-related capacities influence states' participation and effectiveness in international negotiations. The book develops a theoretical framework linking resources and incentives to states' inclination of formulating national positions and acting upon them. It distinguishes between the policy-initiation, negotiation and decision-taking stages in the policy cycle, illustrating the difference in activity between nations, which affect the dynamics and outcomes of negotiations between member states. Based on extensive interviews with diplomats of smaller and bigger states in a variety of geographical regions, the book reveals that there are real and politically significant limits to the effects of size and identifies specific conditions under which smaller states can punch above their weight. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Introduction 1

1.1 The research question and the argument 3

1.2 Contributions to International Relations research 6

1.3 Chapter outline 8

2 The United Nations General Assembly: Formal Equality and Size Differences 13

2.1 The United Nations General Assembly and the equality-of-states principle 13

2.2 The UN member states: Size differences and challenges 15

2.3 Mapping active participation in the UNGA policy cycle 22

2.4 Mapping effective participation: Influence and success in the United Nations General Assembly 29

3 Theory 33

3.1 Theorising active participation in the UNGA policy cycle 33

3.2 Theorising effective participation: Influence and success 49

4 Kmpirics I: Active Participation 56

4.1 Participation in the policy-initiation stage (DV1a) 56

4.2 Participation in the negotiation stage (DV1b) 67

4.3 Participation in the decision-taking stage (DV1c) 77

4.4 Size differences and active participation 85

5 Empirics II: Effective Participation in the UNGA 93

5.1 The negotiation stage: Influence in the UNGA (DV2a) 93

5.1.1 The African descent case and Colombia: A least likely case for small state influence 95

5.1.2 The ICJ follow-up resolution on nuclear weapons: A small state in a big group - negotiating with strings attached 102

5.1.3 Mexico and the Latin American nuclear-weapon-free-zone: How bigger states negotiate 109

5.1.4 India and the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use of Nuclear Weapons: How big states can exploit big groups 115

5.1.5 The EU and the Myanmar resolution: How a smaller group negotiates 120

5.1.6 The G77 and the elimination of racism case: How a big group conducts multilateral negotiations 130

5.2 The voting stage: Success in the UNGA (DV2b) 137

5.3 Size differences, influence and success 142

6 Conclusions 149

6.1 The argument and major findings 149

6.2 The importance of institutional design 156

6.3 Small states: Punching above their weights in multilateral negotiations? 158.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 231-246) and index.

ISBN:

9781137363268

1137363266

OCLC:

856053053