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This book, using an historical approach, provides a penetrating analysis of issues surrounding UN Security Council reform.

This is a penetrating analysis of UN Security Council reform. It presents an overview of the current debates - emphasising the potential for, and modalities of, adjustment in the post-Cold War era - through a systematic investigation of the various reform proposals and the attitudes of member states. This is essential reading for all students and scholars of the United Nations and international relations.

The book assesses the EU performance in the broader UN setting after the Lisbon Treaty. Distinguished scholars with expertise in EU-UN relations use a comprehensive analytical framework of performance to examine various aspects of the complex EU engagement in UN politics. Performance goes beyond the achievement of agreed-upon objectives and engulfs the underlying, intra-organizational, agreement-reaching processes. The contributors examine the output of the intra-EU policy-making process and its impact within the UN setting. They cover thematic areas of special importance for the EU such as environment, human rights, disarmament and peacekeeping operations as well as special UN bodies and forums where the EU is particularly active, such as the UN General Assembly and its main Committees, the International Labour Organisation, UNESCO and the Non-Proliferation Review Conferences.--

1. Introduction : the EU presence in international organizations / Spyros Blavoukos and Dimitris Bourantonis -- 2. EU contribution to and cooperation with multilateral organizations / Emil J. Kirchner -- 3. The European Union and NATO : subordinate partner, cooperative pillar, competing pole? / James Sperling -- 4. The EU as a security actor : in and with the UN and NATO / Hanna Ojanen -- 5. The big three and the High Representative : dilemmas of leadership inside and outside the EU / Christopher Hill -- 6. The EU, the US and international organizations : trade politics in the global political economy / Michael Smith -- 7. Effective multilateralism on trial : EU compliance with WTO law / Alasdair R. Young -- 8. The European Commission in the WTO's DDA negotiations : a tale of an agent, a single undertaking, and twenty-seven nervous principals / Bart Kerremans -- 9. The Commonwealth and the European Union : a multilateralism of international institutions / Paul Taylor -- 10. Conclusions / Spyros Blavoukos and Dimitris Bourantonis.

This book examines the important role of the chairmanship office in multilateral negotiations within the UN setting. Although chairmanship is a generic feature of international politics, negotiations, and decision-making, it has been scarcely researched. The neutrality and impartiality assumptions that have been long associated with the chair have veiled the chair's potential in moulding negotiation outcomes. The authors seek to develop an analytical framework for the systematic study of the chairmanship office and its potential impact on multilateral negotiations. It elaborates on its origins, the parameters and conditions of chair's effectiveness, and the performance of the chair's functions. Focusing on the UN, this work seeks to go beyond existing accounts, offering further insights and extending the discussion beyond the Security Council. Without ignoring the pivotal importance of the Security Council, the book broadens the scope of analysis to other significant UN bodies and institutions including ad hoc Working Groups and several Conferences set up for specific international issues. Evaluating material from a wide range of sources and providing a deeper understanding of UN political dynamics, this work will appeal to scholars of the UN system, international organisations and global governance.