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Political groups permeate the diplomatic process across the United Nations (un) system, from conference diplomacy to annual sessions of the deliberative bodies, yet they remain poorly understood and under-appreciated. This article approaches groups from a conceptual and theoretical perspective, providing a typology to differentiate clearly the various groups that are active in un processes, from electoral groups to regional organizations and single-issue coalitions. The article also examines how theories of multilateralism, global governance and international negotiation largely exclude group and inter-group dynamics. Theories of global governance and multilateralism operate at the systemic level of analysis, while theories of negotiation and coalitions reflect assumptions of individual agency; both levels of analysis obscure the operation of political groups and group politics in un multilateralism. The emerging theories of diplomatic practice provide a meso-level approach that reveals the pervasive practice of group politics and politicized diplomacy in un multilateralism.

The Lisbon Treaty introduces major reforms to European Union (EU) foreign policy coordination, particularly at the United Nations (UN) in New York. These reforms coincide with efforts to take a more strategic approach to the EU's role on the world stage and improve its leadership. This study uses Oran Young's typology of leadership to identify ways in which the EU and its Member States might implement the reforms of the Lisbon Treaty into the UN context more strategically, focusing on the various leadership roles the EU might pursue in the UN's multilateral diplomacy. As the EU seeks to improve its performance in bolstering effective multilateralism, it must define how it wants to lead at the UN, and weigh the difficulties of making the necessary changes to pursue a more strategic approach to multilateral leadership.

The United Nations has long been a common priority in the foreign policies of the Nordic countries and a forum in which Nordic collaboration has been extensive. This article demonstrates how expanded Nordic-European Union membership and the evolution of the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) have eclipsed the unique Nordic role in the world body. This change is documented through an examination of Nordic voting cohesion and joint initiatives from UN documents as well as qualitative data obtained through interviews with Nordic delegates at the UN. The significance of this change is analysed by applying the concept of global presence or 'actorness' as it relates to both European and Nordic goup efforts at the UN. The concept of international goup actor includes: (1) external recognition, (2) (legal) authority, (3) autonomy, and (4) cohesion among collaborating states. In this article I argue that the Nordics were traditionally quite strong on the elements of recognition, autonomy and cohesion, while EU cooperation has greater strengths in legal authority and procedural cohesion. The main impact of expanded Nordic-EU membership has been to erode the factors of authority, autonomy and external recognition for the Nordic bloc. While less visible, the Nordics may in fact be more influential, as the values that they have traditionally promoted — international peace and security, effective international development assistance and humanitarian relief, respect for human rights and the rule of law, environmental protection and sustainable development — find resonance in EU common policies at the UN.

While the EU has championed ""effective multilateralism"" and experienced a dramatic internal reform process to improve its performance in external relations, broader multilateral processes have also undergone dramatic change. This handbook addresses the increasingly contested issue of profound political importance: Europe's presence in multilateral institutions. It assesses both the evolving role of Europe in international institutions, and the transformations in international institutions themselves. Acknowledging that the category of international institutions comprises a highly d.