Regional Power Revisited: How to Explain Differences in Coherency and Success of Regional Organizations in the United Nations General Assembly

2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Panke
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Regional Power ◽  
Regional Organizations ◽  
Member States ◽  
Mixed Methods Approach ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
Argumentative Strategies ◽  
United Nations General Assembly ◽  
The United Nations

Abstract The United Nations General Assembly is the International Organization (IO) with the broadest worldwide membership. While regional organizations are not members themselves, they can and often do become active through their own member states. This article addresses two questions: Do regional organizations differ in their ability to speak with one voice in IOs and, if so, why? Are some regional organizations more successful than others and, if so, why? Based on liberal theory and a mixed-methods approach, the research suggests, firstly, that regional organizations are in a better position to engage in collective action in IOs if they can develop group positions for a broad range of items. This is easier the greater the capacities and the stronger the incentives of the member states, the smaller the number of actors participating in regional organizations’ coordination meetings, and the more homogenous groups are. Secondly, regional organizations are especially successful in IOs if they have common positions that their experienced and knowledgeable member states can push via argumentative strategies and if regional organizations can rely on the larger membership when it comes to playing two-level games in UNGA negotiations (tied-hands strategy) and when it comes to voting in IOs.

One voice or different choice? Vote defection of European Union member states in the United Nations General Assembly

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 652-673 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Burmester ◽  
Michael Jankowski
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Union Member ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
United Nations General Assembly ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
European Union Member States

Existing research suggests that European Union member states are increasingly able to act in concert in the United Nations General Assembly. Based on several hundred co-ordination meetings per year, the European Union ‘speaks with one voice’ on most of the resolutions voted upon in the United Nations General Assembly. However, little is known about instances where the European Union member states do not vote coherently. Three questions remain unanswered. First, what factors determine deviating voting behaviour of European Union member states? Second, who are the most frequent defectors from the European Union’s majority position? Third, which voting blocs within the European Union can be identified? The article answers these questions in a quantitative design by controlling for domestic factors, issues of resolutions and the position of the United States. The results suggest that domestic factors determine deviating voting behaviour far less than agenda-related issues and the position of the United States.

The institutional design of the United Nations General Assembly: an effective equalizer?

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Panke
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Final Decision ◽  
Policy Cycle ◽  
Member States ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
United Nations General Assembly ◽  
The United Nations

Most international organizations are based on the principle of equality of states. Their institutional design grants all member states the same formal rights. Although formally equal, states differ immensely concerning their power capacities and size. Can institutional designs of international organizations mitigate real-world power- and size-related differences between member states, and if so, to which extent? To provide an answer, this article focuses on the United Nations General Assembly, which combines an equalizing institutional design with a large very heterogeneous membership. It shows that the strength of the equalizing effect varies across stages of the policy cycle. It is the weakest in the negotiation stage and the strongest in the final decision-making stage, while institutional design of international organizations has a de facto equalizing effect of medium strength in the agenda setting stage. Thus, while power and capacity differences matter, larger powerful states are not systematically better off throughout the entire policy cycle.

Commemorating the 10th Anniversary of World Autism Awareness Day

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 260-272
Author(s):  
Tim Morse
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Member States ◽  
10Th Anniversary ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
Educational Challenges ◽  
Students With Autism ◽  
United Nations General Assembly ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Main Components

On December 18, 2007, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 62/139 which established World Autism Awareness Day—one of only four official health-specific UN Days. The original resolution had four main components, which included celebrating World Autism Awareness Day every April 2 and encouraging member states to raise the awareness of autism at all levels in society. In accordance with this latter component of the resolution, the purpose of this article is to raise educators’ awareness about some of the most salient issues that need to be addressed as schools continue to implement necessary reforms for meeting the educational challenges posed by students with autism.

scholarly journals Delegating diplomacy: rhetoric across agents in the United Nations General Assembly

2021 ◽  
pp. 002085232199756
Author(s):  
Julia Gray ◽  
Alex Baturo
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Single Voice ◽  
United Nations General Assembly ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Career Incentives

When political principals send agents to international organizations, those agents are often assumed to speak in a single voice. Yet, various types of country representatives appear on the international stage, including permanent representatives as well as more overtly “political” government officials. We argue that permanent delegates at the United Nations face career incentives that align them with the bureaucracy, setting them apart from political delegates. To that end, they tend to speak more homogeneously than do other types of speakers, while also using relatively more technical, diplomatic rhetoric. In addition, career incentives will make them more reluctant to criticize the United Nations. In other words, permanent representatives speak more like bureaucratic agents than like political principals. We apply text analytics to study differences across agents’ rhetoric at the United Nations General Assembly. We demonstrate marked distinctions between the speech of different types of agents, contradictory to conventional assumptions, with implications for our understandings of the interplay between public administration and agency at international organizations. Points for practitioners Delegations to international organizations do not “speak with one voice.” This article illustrates that permanent representatives to the United Nations display more characteristics of bureaucratic culture than do other delegates from the same country. For practitioners, it is important to realize that the manner in which certain classes of international actors “conduct business” can differ markedly. These differences in tone—even among delegates from the same principal—can impact the process of negotiation and debate.

Arab League

1953 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-281
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
The Political ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
Arab League ◽  
United Nations General Assembly ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Arab States

The Political Committee of the Arab League met in Cairo beginning December 20, 1952, under the chairmanship of Fathy Radwan (Egypt) to discuss questions relating to Palestine and north Africa. On December 25, the committee issued a statement approving the failure of passage in the United Nations General Assembly of the resolution adopted by the Ad Hoc Political Committee calling for direct negotiations between Israel and the Arab states. The committee condemned “the mere idea of an invitation to Arabs to negotiate with the Israelis” and expressed the hope “that there would be no repetition of these attempts”.

scholarly journals Canada in the United Nations General Assembly from Trudeau to Trudeau

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Srdjan Vucetic ◽  
Bojan Ramadanovic
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Global Issues ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
The World ◽  
United Nations General Assembly ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Western European ◽  
The Government

All Canadian governments say that Canada must look to its “friends and allies” and “like-minded partners” to achieve greater cooperation on global issues. But who are these countries exactly? To gain a better understanding of where Ottawa stands in the world, with whom, and under what conditions, we analyze Canada’s voting patterns in the United Nations General Assembly from 1980 to 2017. We find that Canada’s overall record tends towards that of Western European states. We find no evidence of greater affinity with US positions either when the Democrats are in power in Washington or when the conservative parties reign in power in Ottawa. We identify a sharp pro-US turn in the Harper years, and also confirm that the government of Justin Trudeau started off by maintaining rather than reversing this trend.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document