Page 204 - 100 Reflections that Crafted Geneva International_V-Petrovsky_private special edition

100 Reflections that Crafted Geneva International

technical problems associated with the functioning of international organiza-
tions of a universal character.

Between 1920 and 1945, 53 permanent delegations to the League of
Nations operated here for various periods of time. It was mainly small and
medium-sized countries that opened their missions, often quite small, with a
staff of one to five or, at most, ten people. It is worth noting that the great
powers such as Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, the USSR and
the host country, Switzerland, did not have any permanent delegations in
Geneva. Now times have changed.

When the United Nations was founded and the United Nations European
Office was established at Geneva, all States members of international
organizations began to open their diplomatic missions. Today, in Geneva there
appear to be three diplomatic corps accredited to the UN, to the Conference
on Disarmament and the World Trade Organization. In total, there are 142
permanent missions, 4 observer missions that are not members of the UN
(Switzerland, Palestine, the Holy See and San Marino) and 3 observer missions
of regional organizations (the European Community, the League of Arab
States, and the Organization of African Unity). Russia is represented in Geneva
by two ambassadors, to the UN headquarters and to the Conference on
Disarmament.

Like any traditional diplomatic mission, permanent missions to the United
Nations conduct negotiations that are typical of multilateral diplomacy, but
they also maintain bilateral contacts, ranging from very close to formal. This is
where the origins of group diplomacy lie, which often plays a huge role at
negotiations (the Western Group, the Group of 77 representing developing
countries, regional groups, etc.).

A total of about 30,000 people working in the international field reside in
Geneva, including members of diplomatic missions and representatives of non-
governmental organizations and staff of all international organizations. If we
include their family members, we get an even more impressive figure of 70,000
people associated with international organizations in a broad sense, citizens of
"international Geneva". This may well be compared with the population of a
neighboring provincial city in Switzerland or in France. All delegates arriving at
the meetings, of which there are about 120,000 people annually, are
accommodated in hotels in the Canton and even in the border region of
France.

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