Oligarchy and Legitimacy in World Politics: Conference Diplomacy 1815–2024

The advent of ‘conference diplomacy’ is a prominent feature of the modern international order, emerging notably at the Congress of Vienna and persisting today in institutions such as the G7 and the G20. This chapter considers how the politics of legitimacy has affected, and been affected by, this distinctive form of diplomacy. The connection is there for all to see, evident in the anti-globalization protests that accompanied many G7 (or previously, G8) meetings, and in the extraordinary security measures required to prevent repeat occurrences. More importantly, the connection has been there from the start. Scholars have long agreed that the politics of legitimacy played a central role at the Congress of Vienna, affecting membership of the club of great powers, and justifying a Congress that barely convened.