Antarctica at the United Nations, 1985: the end of consensus?

Polar Record ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 23 (143) ◽  
pp. 159-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Beck
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Consensus Approach ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
The Future ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
United Nations General Assembly ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Bridge Building ◽  
The Antarctic

ABSTRACTThe question of Antarctica was discussed at the United Nations General Assembly in 1985 for the third successive year. While the content of the debates differed little from that of previous years, the discussions resulted in the adoption, by large majorities, of three resolutions in favour of an expanded and up-dated UN Study on Antarctica, the provision of information for the UN on the Antarctic minerals regime negotiations, and the exclusion of South Africa from the Antarctic Treaty System. The Antarctic Treaty powers, favouring no real UN role in Antarctica, stressed the need to maintain the present arrangements and did not participate in the UN votes on the three resolutions. The apparent breakdown of the consensus approach that was characteristic of 1983 and 1984 raises a question for the future; will 1986 witness bridge-building or continuing divisions on the most appropriate way to manage Antarctica in the future?

The United Nations and Antarctica

Polar Record ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 22 (137) ◽  
pp. 137-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Beck
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Developing Nations ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
System A ◽  
Common Heritage Of Mankind ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
United Nations General Assembly ◽  
The Common ◽  
The United Nations

AbstractThe United Nations as a body has hitherto shown little interest or involvement in Antarctica. A recently developed campaign, led by several of the developing nations, now aims to involve the international community more closely in the management of the continent and its resources. Argument that Antarctica should be regarded as part of the common heritage of mankind finds little support among Antarctic Treaty nations, who favour continuing management under the treaty system. A nine-hour discussion in the First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly during November 1983 resulted in a resolution on ‘the question of Antarctica’ which the General Assembly adopted unanimously on 15 December; the Secretary-General has been asked to report on ‘all aspects of Antarctica’ in time for further discussion in September 1984.

scholarly journals Delegating diplomacy: rhetoric across agents in the United Nations General Assembly

2021 ◽  
pp. 002085232199756
Author(s):  
Julia Gray ◽  
Alex Baturo
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Single Voice ◽  
United Nations General Assembly ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Career Incentives

When political principals send agents to international organizations, those agents are often assumed to speak in a single voice. Yet, various types of country representatives appear on the international stage, including permanent representatives as well as more overtly “political” government officials. We argue that permanent delegates at the United Nations face career incentives that align them with the bureaucracy, setting them apart from political delegates. To that end, they tend to speak more homogeneously than do other types of speakers, while also using relatively more technical, diplomatic rhetoric. In addition, career incentives will make them more reluctant to criticize the United Nations. In other words, permanent representatives speak more like bureaucratic agents than like political principals. We apply text analytics to study differences across agents’ rhetoric at the United Nations General Assembly. We demonstrate marked distinctions between the speech of different types of agents, contradictory to conventional assumptions, with implications for our understandings of the interplay between public administration and agency at international organizations. Points for practitioners Delegations to international organizations do not “speak with one voice.” This article illustrates that permanent representatives to the United Nations display more characteristics of bureaucratic culture than do other delegates from the same country. For practitioners, it is important to realize that the manner in which certain classes of international actors “conduct business” can differ markedly. These differences in tone—even among delegates from the same principal—can impact the process of negotiation and debate.

Arab League

1953 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-281
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
The Political ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
Arab League ◽  
United Nations General Assembly ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Arab States

The Political Committee of the Arab League met in Cairo beginning December 20, 1952, under the chairmanship of Fathy Radwan (Egypt) to discuss questions relating to Palestine and north Africa. On December 25, the committee issued a statement approving the failure of passage in the United Nations General Assembly of the resolution adopted by the Ad Hoc Political Committee calling for direct negotiations between Israel and the Arab states. The committee condemned “the mere idea of an invitation to Arabs to negotiate with the Israelis” and expressed the hope “that there would be no repetition of these attempts”.

scholarly journals Canada in the United Nations General Assembly from Trudeau to Trudeau

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Srdjan Vucetic ◽  
Bojan Ramadanovic
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Global Issues ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
The World ◽  
United Nations General Assembly ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Western European ◽  
The Government

All Canadian governments say that Canada must look to its “friends and allies” and “like-minded partners” to achieve greater cooperation on global issues. But who are these countries exactly? To gain a better understanding of where Ottawa stands in the world, with whom, and under what conditions, we analyze Canada’s voting patterns in the United Nations General Assembly from 1980 to 2017. We find that Canada’s overall record tends towards that of Western European states. We find no evidence of greater affinity with US positions either when the Democrats are in power in Washington or when the conservative parties reign in power in Ottawa. We identify a sharp pro-US turn in the Harper years, and also confirm that the government of Justin Trudeau started off by maintaining rather than reversing this trend.

Twenty years on: the UN and the ‘Question of Antarctica,’ 1983–2003

Polar Record ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 205-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Beck
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Community ◽  
Consensus Approach ◽  
Annual Basis ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Malaysian Government ◽  
Antarctic Treaty System

The United Nations (UN) has now been involved with the ‘Question of Antarctica’ for 20 years. Divisions within the international community about the most appropriate form of management for Antarctica, which was presented to the UN as a region of global importance, have never completely disappeared, even if the restoration of a consensus approach during the mid-1990s was based upon a broader appreciation of the merits of the Antarctic Treaty System. Both Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties and non-Consultative Parties, pointing to the regime's enduring intrinsic qualities, have adopted an unyielding attitude towards Treaty outsiders advocating a more democratic, accountable, and transparent regime. Even so, the critical lobby, led by Dr Mahathir's Malaysian government, has never gone away. Initially, the ‘Question of Antarctica’ was discussed at the UN on an annual basis, but since 1996 it has been placed on a triennial reference. Following the most recent session in late 2002, the topic is scheduled to be placed on the UN's agenda again in 2005. This article reviews critically the key themes characterising the UN's involvement in the ‘Question of Antarctica’ since 1983, while using successive Polar Record articles on individual UN sessions to provide a framework of reference and an informed basis for further research on the topic.

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