The UN and State Conduct

Abstract

With the exception of some major powers, governments consistently utilize the UN to pursue national foreign policy goals. UN settings facilitate extensive bilateral contact, but their procedures make multilateral diplomatic skills a sine qua non for effective pursuit of state objectives. Sometimes these are advanced with minimal consultation, but most diplomatic conduct at the UN entails participation within a web of group processes. This may entail tradeoffs where national preferences are conceded to gain the stronger voice of a shared position. How much is conceded, by whom, and for what ends is grist to continuous interaction between delegations and their capitals. Enhanced utilization of consensus procedures to reach decisions is now a prominent consideration. This may add authority to some outcomes, dilute others and, on occasions, shelter governments from unwanted exposure. Consensus procedures are also abused as a form of de facto veto, although identifying that practice at the UN can prove difficult, since governments insisting on the lowest common denominator are shielded by group cover, afforded in the interests of mutual protection.