This book investigates the mechanisms of negotiation and agenda-setting within the United Nations Security Council to determine how member states influence global policy outcomes. Author Susan H. Allen, a scholar of international relations, utilizes quantitative data and formal modeling to analyze the bargaining behaviors of both permanent and non-permanent members. The work presents a framework for understanding how procedural rules and political interests intersect to shape the council's decision-making process.

Experts in international relations identify this work as a rigorous contribution to the study of institutional bargaining. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose and the reliance on formal modeling to explain complex diplomatic interactions.