Regional actors in the United Nations: exploring the regionalization of international negotiations

Abstract

Traditionally, international organizations (IOs) are arenas for state–state cooperation, but more often than not regional organizations and groups (ROs) can acquire formal status within IOs (e.g. observer). Studying the behaviour of 62 ROs in 19 UN umbrella organizations over more than 350 individual negotiations, this article provides comparative insights into the current pattern of regionalization of international negotiations. We seek to account for the observed variation in the extent of regionalization of international negotiations. Thus, we examine which institutional design features are conducive for the regionalization of IO negotiations. We show that large IOs with majority rules in place render regionalization of negotiations more likely, while the formal openness of an IO for ROs does not have a positive effect. This is not the least due to the inclination of ROs to engage in forum shopping, especially when they have access to multiple venues.