The Format of Multilateral Conferences

Abstract

This chapter is about the minutiae of how multilateral conferences are organised and work. Many of these may seem mundane in the extreme and devoid of interest but their importance can hardly be exaggerated. For multilateral diplomats, this is the medium in which they must operate: it is both their working environment and part of their tools of trade. The analogy which springs to mind is that of a fish: it must adapt to the pressure, density, salinity and temperature of the water; to move it must both overcome the resistance of water and use it as a means of propelling itself; to communicate it must both exploit the ability of water to transmit sound and light and accommodate itself to the limitations thereof. Every aspect of the process of a conference influences its outcome and most of them can be exploited or manipulated to serve one’s own purposes.