Group Dynamics and Interplay in un Disarmament Forums: In Search of Consensus

In: The Hague Journal of Diplomacy
Author: Megan Dee1
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  • 1 Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom
Online Publication Date:
01 Feb 2017
In:
Volume 12: Issue 2-3
Article Type:
Research Article
Pages:
158–177
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1163/1871191X-12341364
Keywords:
United Nations; nuclear disarmament; group politics; multilateralism; Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (npt); consensus-building

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The elimination of nuclear weapons has been an objective of the United Nations (un) since 1946. Although addressed through multiple forums, including the un General Assembly’s First Committee, Conference on Disarmament and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the possession and renunciation of nuclear weapons nevertheless remains a topic beset by multilateral stalemate and frustration over the entrenchment of positions between nuclear- and non-nuclear weapon states. Yet within these forums, disarmament politics are taking a new turn, with the emergence of new, cross-regional, cross-factional political groups working alongside more established blocs. Focusing on these group dynamics, this article argues that the emergence of new political groups, and their interplay with others, is critical to the effective functioning of disarmament negotiations. Through cooperative information exchange, encouraging policy entrepreneurship and by challenging the rigidity of entrenched bloc positioning, these new group dynamics may make an important contribution in the search for consensus within the un.

In:
The Hague Journal of Diplomacy
E-ISSN:
1871-191X
Print ISSN:
1871-1901
Publisher:
Brill | Nijhoff
Cover The Hague Journal of Diplomacy
  • 3

    In October 2012, the unga also established an Open-Ended Working Group (oewg) on ‘Taking Forward Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament Negotiations’. This was a largely ad-hoc body that met between March and April 2013 and then reported to the unga and cd. A further oewg was announced following the conclusion of the 70th session of the unga First Committee in October 2015; see un Resolution ‘Taking Forward Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament Negotiations’, A/C.1/70/L.13/Rev.1 (29 October 2015). Space constraints sadly prevent discussion of these oewg, as well as other ad-hoc debates such as unga Special Sessions devoted to disarmament.

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    For example, see Reaching Critical Will, First Committee Briefing Book (New York: Reaching Critical Will, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, 2015), p. 4; un News Centre, ‘Consensus Eludes Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference as Positions Harden on Ways to Free Middle East of Mass Destruction Weapons’ (22 May 2015); and un News Centre, ‘General Assembly President Encourages Disarmament Meeting to Stay Focused’ (3 March 2014).

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  • 7

    B. Tertrais, ‘The “Humanitarian Dimension” of Nuclear Disarmament: A Legitimate Debate?’, Fondation pour la Recerche Strategique, note no. 12 (2015).

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  • 8

    Karen E. Smith and Katie Laatikainen, ‘Introduction: The Multilateral Politics of UN Diplomacy’, The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, vol. 12, no. 2 (2017) pp. x-x, this issue.

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  • 17

    Harold Müller, ‘A Treaty in Troubled Waters: Reflections on the Failed NPT Review Conference’, The International Spectator, vol. 40, no. 3 (2005), pp. 33–44, at p. 38; and J. Ruzicka and N. Wheeler, ‘The Puzzle of Trusting Relationships in the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty’, International Affairs, vol. 86, no. 1 (2010), pp. 69–85, at p. 75.

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  • 22

    Interviews, June 2015.

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    Kingston Reif, ‘UN Disarmament Body Still Stalemated’, Arms Control Today (2 September 2015).

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    F.C. Iklé, How Nations Negotiate (New York: Praeger, 1964), pp. 197–203.

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    Sjöstedt, ‘Leadership in Multilateral Negotiations’, p. 242.

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    Interviews, May–June 2011.

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    Reaching Critical Will, Assuring Destruction Forever: Nuclear Weapon Modernization Around the World (New York: Reaching Critical Will, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, 2012).

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    Interviews, June 2015.

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    Interview, June 2015.

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    Interview, March 2015; Interview, June 2015.

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    Interview, June 2015.

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    Interview, June 2015.

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    Interview, June 2015.

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    Interview, June 2015.

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    Interviews, June 2015.

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    Interview, March 2015; Interview, June 2015.

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    Interviews, June 2015.

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    Interview, June 2015.

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    Interview, March 2015; Interview, June 2015.

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    Interviews, March 2015; Interviews, June 2015.

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    Interviews, June 2015.

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    Arild Underdal, ‘Causes of Negotiation “Failure”’, European Journal of Political Research, vol. 11, no. 2 (1983), pp. 183–195.

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  • 69

    Megan Dee, ‘Standing Together or Doing the Splits? Evaluating European Union Performance in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Negotiations’, European Foreign Affairs Review, vol. 17, no. 2 (2012), pp. 187–210.

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