Preserving the ‘pecking order’ in Europe’s diplomatic hierarchies: comparing the place of Central Eastern Europeans in the EU and NATO

The Ukraine war has made it clear that the world should have listened to those Central and Eastern European (CEE) member states of the European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) who, for years, had been sounding the alarm about Russia. So why did their warnings fall on deaf ears? Even though international organisations (IOs) should ensure equal representation, they end up nonetheless being structured by social hierarchies, with some countries counting more than others. This paper sets out to investigate how informal diplomatic hierarchies in multilateral IOs work and whether they contribute to suboptimal outcomes in international cooperation. We argue that exogenous shocks and preconceptions that countries hold about each other play a key role in the recognition of diplomats’ competence claims. Depending on whose competence claims are recognised, dismissed or reprimanded, existing hierarchies within an IO will either be reinforced or challenged. We investigate how the war in Ukraine (re)shaped diplomatic pecking orders in the EU and NATO, focusing on CEE countries. Role expectations towards the CEEs have evolved, allowing for greater recognition of these countries. Even in light of the war, however, informal hierarchies in both the EU and NATO appear resistant to meaningful changes.