UK diplomacy at the UN after Brexit: Challenges and Opportunities
| Author | Megan Dee,Karen E Smith |
| DOI | 10.1177/1369148117710208 |
| Date | 01 August 2017 |
| Published date | 01 August 2017 |
| Subject Matter | Special Issue Articles - Part One |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1369148117710208
The British Journal of Politics and
International Relations
2017, Vol. 19(3) 527 –542
© The Author(s) 2017
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DOI: 10.1177/1369148117710208
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UK diplomacy at the UN
after Brexit: Challenges and
Opportunities
Megan Dee1 and Karen E Smith2
Abstract
The outcome of the UK’s EU referendum will have far-reaching implications for its foreign policy
and diplomacy and raises fundamental questions of how ‘Brexit’ will impact its relationships with
Europe and the world. This is even more pertinent when looked at from the perspective of the
UN where the UK has benefited considerably from its membership of the EU. This article presents
the challenges and opportunities of Brexit for the UK’s diplomacy, and influence, at the UN. First,
we illustrate the importance of political and regional groups within the UN. Second, we analyse
how the UK has worked within such groups, and above all the EU, in two cases: human rights and
nuclear weapons issues. Finally, we reflect upon how Brexit is expected to impact UK diplomacy
in a UN dominated by group politics, arguing that any rewiring of UK diplomatic channels must
continue to account for EU positions.
Keywords
BREXIT, United Nations, diplomacy, group politics, human rights, nuclear weapons
Introduction
The outcome of the United Kingdom’s referendum of 23 June 2016 to leave the European
Union (EU) will have far-reaching implications for British foreign policy and diplomacy.
While considerable attention is being paid to the specifics of how the United Kingdom
might negotiate its withdrawal from the EU, a fundamental question remains of how
‘Brexit’ will, in turn, impact the United Kingdom’s wider international role and its rela-
tionships with Europe and the world at large. This question is even more pertinent when
looked at from the perspective of the United Nations (UN), where the United Kingdom
has considerably benefited from its membership of the EU, which is widely recognised as
a major pole and important political group within the UN. Group politics—that is, the
actions, interactions and influence of regional and political groups—characterise diplo-
macy at the UN beyond the Security Council. Hence, the United Kingdom’s prospective
exit from one of the most important of these groups will inevitably affect the way it
1Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
2International Relations Department, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK
Corresponding author:
Megan Dee, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK.
Email: m.dee@warwick.ac.uk
710208BPI0010.1177/1369148117710208The British Journal of Politics and International RelationsDee and Smith
research-article2017
Special Issue Article
528 The British Journal of Politics and International Relations 19(3)
engages with other UN member states and its potential influence on debates and out-
comes at the UN.
This article analyses the challenges and opportunities of Brexit for the United
Kingdom’s diplomacy, and influence, at the UN. It presents a look back at how the United
Kingdom has worked within the EU at the UN to date, as well as a critical look ahead at
what effect Brexit can be expected to have on UK diplomacy in this forum. Specifically,
we seek to answer the following research questions:
1. To what extent has the United Kingdom worked within the EU at the UN thus far
and how important has EU membership been for the United Kingdom?
2. Given the importance of group politics at the UN, what options are there for a
country outside a major group to try to exercise influence?
3. What options does the United Kingdom have outside of the EU in terms of trying
to influence debates and outcomes at the UN?
Focus is given explicitly in this article to two contrasting policy fields within which
the United Kingdom might be expected to exert influence at the UN: human rights and
nuclear weapons. On nuclear issues the EU has long been considered a highly variable
and oftentimes weak actor within the UN’s multiple disarmament forums (see Blavoukos
et al., 2015; Dee, in press; Müller, 2010, 2005). As a nuclear-weapon state and permanent
member of the UN Security Council, expectations follow that the United Kingdom could
therefore be in a better position to exert leverage without recourse to the EU. Within the
Human Rights Council (HRC) however, where the EU is a prominent pole and influential
group, expectation follows that Brexit could negatively impact UK leverage. We seek to
test those expectations and to consider the implications that Brexit could have for the
United Kingdom in these contexts. The research is based principally on official docu-
ments and records of the UN and interviews conducted by each of the authors over a
period of several years with diplomats from UN member states.1
The article begins by illustrating the importance of political and regional groups within
the UN system. It then analyses the way in which the United Kingdom has worked within
such groups, and above all the EU, in two cases: the HRC and the Nuclear Non-
Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference and associated nuclear forums. Finally,
we consider how Brexit can be expected to impact UK representation and influence in a
UN dominated by group politics.
The UN context: Group politics to the fore
The United Kingdom is widely considered to be one of the most influential members of
the UN. Its position is above all characterised by its permanent membership of the UN
Security Council, which stems from its important role in the alliance that won World War
II. As one of the P-5 (five permanent members) the United Kingdom can lay claim to a
status as one of the world’s leading powers. The United Kingdom is seen as a constructive
member of the Security Council: it has not vetoed a draft resolution there since December
1989 (nor has the other west European power, France). It is the sixth largest contributor
to the UN’s general budget (contributing 4.7% of the budget) and to the peacekeeping
budget (contributing 5.8%) (UK House of Lords, 2016: 41). Since 2013, the United
Kingdom has also been one of the few developed countries that meets the UN target of
giving 0.7% of its gross national income (GNI) in official development aid. But the
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