The effect of expert recommendations on intergovernmental decision-making
- The article explores whether and to what extent expert recommendations affect decision-making within the Security Council and its North Korea and Iran sanctions regimes. The article first develops a rationalist theoretical argument to show why making many second-stage decisions, such as determining lists of items under export restrictions, subjects Security Council members to repeating coordination situations. Expert recommendations may provide focal point solutions to coordination problems, even when interests diverge and preferences remain stable. Empirically, the article first explores whether expert recommendations affected decision-making on commodity sanctions imposed on North Korea. Council members heavily relied on recommended export trigger lists as focal points, solving a divisive conflict among great powers. Second, the article explores whether expert recommendations affected the designation of sanctions violators in the Iran sanctions regime. Council members designated individuals and entities following expertThe article explores whether and to what extent expert recommendations affect decision-making within the Security Council and its North Korea and Iran sanctions regimes. The article first develops a rationalist theoretical argument to show why making many second-stage decisions, such as determining lists of items under export restrictions, subjects Security Council members to repeating coordination situations. Expert recommendations may provide focal point solutions to coordination problems, even when interests diverge and preferences remain stable. Empirically, the article first explores whether expert recommendations affected decision-making on commodity sanctions imposed on North Korea. Council members heavily relied on recommended export trigger lists as focal points, solving a divisive conflict among great powers. Second, the article explores whether expert recommendations affected the designation of sanctions violators in the Iran sanctions regime. Council members designated individuals and entities following expert recommendations as focal points, despite conflicting interests among great powers. The article concludes that expert recommendations are an additional means of influence in Security Council decision-making and seem relevant for second-stage decision-making among great powers in other international organisations.…
| Author details: | Thomas DörflerORCiDGND |
|---|---|
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1177/00471178211033941 |
| ISSN: | 0047-1178 |
| ISSN: | 1741-2862 |
| Title of parent work (English): | International relations : the journal of the David Davies Memorial Institute of International Studies |
| Subtitle (English): | North Korea, Iran, and non-proliferation sanctions in the Security Council |
| Publisher: | Sage |
| Place of publishing: | London |
| Publication type: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Date of first publication: | 2022/07/19 |
| Publication year: | 2022 |
| Release date: | 2024/05/06 |
| Tag: | Security Council; decision-making; expert recommendations; international organisation; rationalism; sanctions |
| Volume: | 36 |
| Issue: | 2 |
| Number of pages: | 25 |
| First page: | 237 |
| Last Page: | 261 |
| Organizational units: | Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Sozialwissenschaften / Fachgruppe Politik- & Verwaltungswissenschaft |
| DDC classification: | 0 Informatik, Informationswissenschaft, allgemeine Werke / 00 Informatik, Wissen, Systeme / 000 Informatik, Informationswissenschaft, allgemeine Werke |
| 3 Sozialwissenschaften / 32 Politikwissenschaft / 320 Politikwissenschaft | |
| Peer review: | Referiert |
