The Accomplishments of Group Negotiations

Abstract

Conventional wisdom, particularly in the South, about the results of group negotiations is that they have played a necessary and vital role in launching the North—South dialogue and ultimately will have contributed to an alternative international economic order. Even such a critical northern observer as Rothstein observes that developing countries have been ‘skillful in manipulating the few assets they possess, especially the power of unity’.¹ This chapter puts forward the essential accomplishments of the Group of 77 from 1964–84 within UNCTAD, or within UNCTAD-related discussions, under four headings: logistics; new approaches to trade and aid problems; the North-South agenda; and agreements. This analysis follows closely the perspective of R. S. Walters who has made an analytical case for UNCTAD and its group system of diplomacy by examining them more as a type of political party, an ‘articulator, aggregator and communicator of interests’, rather than as a quasi-legislator ‘with its coercive, rule-making powers’.² Within such a framework one does not dwell upon the obvious shortcomings and inability to act — Nye’s infamous, alternative acronymn comes immediately to mind, ‘Under No Conditions Take A Decision’.³ The emphasis is on the positive impact of the UNCTAD system of groups in terms of communicating within the South, focussing the attention of northern decision-makers on developmental issues, beginning to change attitudes, and forcing the emergence of a negotiating agenda.