Politics and process at the United Nations : the global dance / Courtney B. Smith.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 297-317) and index.

1. Introduction to the global dance. The nature of parliamentary diplomacy : an analogy -- Understanding UN processes : where do we start? -- Understanding UN processes : the plan of the book -- Pt. 1: Members of the troupe : actors at the United Nations -- 2. Member states and delegates. State roles at the United Nations -- Permanent missions and delegations -- Personal attributes and delegate autonomy -- 3. Groups and blocs. The role of groups at the United Nations -- Types of groups and voting blocs -- Electoral groups -- Common interest groups -- Negotiating groups -- 4. The Secretariat and the Secretary-General. The development of the international civil service -- The Secretary-General -- The Secretariat -- 5. Civil society and the private sector. Nongovernmental organizations -- Multinational corporations -- Mechanisms of participation and influence -- Pt. 2. Movements of the dance : procedures and processes -- 6. Formal arenas : the structures of decisionmaking. Five formal arenas of decisionmaking -- The General Assembly -- The Security Council -- Other formal arenas : ECOSOC, the specialized agencies, and global conferences -- 7. Decision rules and parliamentary procedures. The consideration of proposals -- Managing debate through leadership -- Making decisions through voting -- 8. Informal networking : the personal side. The scope and nature of informal contacts -- Informal consultations in the Security Council -- 9. Strategies of influence : positional, personal, and procedural. Strategies based on positional power -- Strategies based on personal attributes -- Strategies based on procedural manipulation -- Pt. 3. Implications of the dance. 10. The United Nations and state compliance. Evaluating the United Nations -- Considering state compliance -- Does the process Itself Matter?

How does the United Nations actually work? How does it reconcile the diverse interests of 191 sovereign member states, plus those of the numerous NGOs with which it interacts, the diverse international Secretariat that services it, and the multinational corporations that lobby it - in the search for effective solutions to the myriad problems it confronts daily? Politics and Process at the United Nations answers these questions, providing a vivid picture of the dynamic interaction between actors and institutional structures. Drawing readers into the global dance that takes place at UN headquarters, the author introduces the various members of the troupe and explains the procedures and processes that make up the movements of the dance. He also addresses an often neglected but essential issue: do UN decisions really matter? The result is an unusual book, valuable both for scholars and for students in UN and IO courses. Includes information on the UN charter, majority voting, multilateral diplomacy, multinational corporations, non-aligned movement, nongovernmental organizations, voting, etc.

Machine converted from AACR2 source record.