International Pecking Orders

"In any multilateral setting, some state representatives weigh much more heavily than others. Practitioners often refer to this form of diplomatic hierarchy as the 'international pecking order'. This book is a study of international hierarchy in practice, as it emerges out of the multilateral diplomatic process. Building on the social theories of Erving Goffman and Pierre Bourdieu, it argues that diplomacy produces inequality. Delving into the politics and inner dynamics of NATO and the UN as case studies, Vincent Pouliot shows that pecking orders are eminently complex social forms: contingent yet durable; constraining but also full of agency; operating at different levels, depending on issues; and defined in significant part locally, in and through the practice of multilateral diplomacy"--

"Being a state diplomat-that is, speaking and acting as the recognized representative of a country-can be as exhilarating as humbling. Thanks to his unusual professional trajectory, Carne Ross experienced both sides of the coin, first as a British delegate to the United Nations (UN) and later as consultant for stateless peoples for the non-governmental organization (NGO) Independent Diplomat. The contrast could not have been starker: "When I was with the British mission, officials of the UN or other countries paid attention when we spoke. Doubtless this was often faked, but it was perhaps felt to be required, given Britain's place in the UN pecking order. With the Kosovars, no such deference is necessary"--

Cover; Half-title page; Title page; Copyright page; Contents; Figures; Tables; Preface and acknowledgments; Abbreviations; Introduction: All the world's a stage; Part I Situations; 1 The politics of multilateral diplomacy; 2 A practice theory of social stratification; Part II Dispositions; 3 The diplomatic sense of place; 4 A working consensus: the negotiation of the 2010 Strategic Concept and the NATO pecking order; Part III Relations; 5 Permanent representation: relational structure and practical logics; 6 Clan politics: Security Council reform and the UN pecking order; Part IV Positions.

7 State practices and multilateral fields8 The field logics of multilateral pecking orders: NATO and the UN compared; Conclusion: The "miracle" of multilateral pecking orders; Appendix: Research design, methods and data; References; Index.