International and domestic pressures on Irish foreign policy: an analysis of the UN Security Council term 2001-2

Abstract

Recent debate on Irish foreign policy has often been framed by the presumed influence of the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy and the dependence of the Irish economy on Foreign Direct Investment from the US. More broadly, small states are generally assumed to have little significant influence on world events. Empirical research on these issues is difficult in the Irish context given the often guarded nature of Irish foreign policy pronouncements. Ireland’s term on the UN Security Council in 2001 and 2002 offers an opportunity both to examine Irish foreign policy decision-making at the highest international level and to look at the capacity of a small state to have influence. The results of this study suggest that contrary to common perceptions, Irish diplomats on the Council did regularly disagree with the US on foreign-policy decisions and that the influence of EU membership was very limited—primarily because there was often no common European policy on the most controversial issues. Ireland can, however, be seen to have influenced a number of key decisions made by the Council during its most recent term as an elected member