Talking politics: The role of conference diplomacy and non -state actors in the global regime process

This dissertation examines the patterns in the causes, dynamics and consequences of global conferences in five issue areas: land mines, women, population, human rights and the environment. Questions on the causes of global conferences include why has the UN convened global conferences on these issues? What are the “driving forces” or factors behind them? Are these factors power-based as the realist school of international relations would argue; interest-based as the neo-liberal school would argue; or knowledge-based as the constructivist school would argue? Questions on the dynamics of global conferences are how does conference diplomacy work? Who are the key actors and how do they interact to influence the process? What are the obstacles to agreement and how are they overcome? Why and how do some ideas or decisions prevail over others? This dissertation argues that none of the three dominant schools of international relations—neo-realism, neo-liberalism, or constructivism—can account for the causes and dynamics of global conferences. Only a synthesis of these three schools can adequately explain why global conferences are held and why certain decisions are made. Also with regard to the dynamics of global conferences, this dissertation argues that non-state actors, such as epistemic communities, business and industry groups, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), play a key role in influencing the conference process and shaping its outcome. The influence of non-state actors in world politics is enhanced at global conferences for two reasons: because conferences are critical junctures or breaking points states are more open to their input and, more importantly, non-state actors have organized themselves into networks. Lastly, questions on the consequences of global conferences include what are the products or outcomes of global conferences and what role do global conferences play in international politics? For the consequences of global conferences, this dissertation argues that global conferences create, institutionalize, and reinvigorate the regimes surrounding these issue areas. In other words, by creating and disseminating the regime\u27s principles and norms global conferences are periodic constitutional conventions of regimes