Informal Practices and the Future of Mass Atrocity Prevention: Exploring the Function of Arria Formula Meetings

The UN Security Council is experiencing a period of increased tension between member states, in part caused by the ratcheting up of major power disputes. In this context, one can highlight a range of informal practices that have begun to gain greater traction in response to the ongoing challenge of supporting mass atrocity crime prevention. Most notably, the use of informal dialogue forums such as Arria formula meetings which are increasingly utilized as critical sites for discussion of early warning initiatives outside of formal UNSC meetings. However, so far academic literature exploring the rise in the use of such forums and their potential value in supporting prevention activities has been limited. In response, this article examines the extent to which Arria formula meetings can work to support atrocity prevention activities by examining three key practical functions of such meetings. In doing so it draws on practice theory in order to help theorize the significant interplay between formal and informal practices within the UNSC. Through this analysis, it is argued that despite the increased utilisation of Arria formula meetings, they have so far proven most effective as a tool for agenda setting, rather than a mechanism that can work to address significant Security Council divisions over the authorisation of atrocity prevention responses.