Importance of process --- Bennette - yes, and no. Major players of course run new initiatives to project their interests. But, new initiatives also influence how the process will go - e.g. a shift from a GGE to OEWG was pushed by Russia and China as it allowed more countries with less knowledge, which waters down tight negotiations on specific and complex maters (thus, OEWG was more of a capacity building effect to bring others on board). At the same time, OEWG is not inclusive enough (formally) re. other stakeholders - and the PoA aims to provide formal channels for other stakeholders to have a say - which is an agenda of France and European actors, with partners. PoA also suggests a review process, which then allows establishing a mechanism to assess success and adherence to agreed rules - which is not in interest of Russia and China directly...

Point is: process is equally important as substance - it is the way to achieve goals. In that sense, various tabled proposals about how the process (known as 'institutional dialogue') should look like - is useful and important, and can bring progress as well; it could increase time needed for an agreement, but at the expense of a greater quality of what we get at the end.

Certainly, launching new processes can also serve to slow down the main negotiations, as a tactic itself. Watch out for those!

Source author: Vladimir Radunovic vladar@diplomacy.edu