With a petition to remove the Burmese junta's representative to the United Nations poised to stand before the General Assembly, new research finds that an increasing number of countries are opting to side with the positions of China and Russia at the expense of those advocated by the European Union (EU).

Richard Gowan and Franziska Brantner, co-authors of a detailed study on the subject for the European Council on Foreign Relations, find that compared to a decade previously support for EU motions before the General Assembly – especially those dealing with human rights – has consistently waned, with an increasing number of countries instead prioritizing an alternative value system based on state sovereignty.

According to the study, 'A Global Force for Human Rights? An audit of European power at the United Nations,' whereas ten years ago an EU proposal concerning human rights could expect 70 percent support in the General Assembly, such proposals now garner approximately 50 percent support, with competing proposals sponsored and/or backed by China and Russia now receiving 75 percent approval.

Numerically, the study, released Wednesday, found that "41 nations that qualified as rights allies during the 1998-9 General Assembly session no longer do so. The fact that South Africa is among them highlights the disturbing fact that the bulk of rising powers are now opposed to the EU on human rights."

Meanwhile, support for similar United States policies at the international body over the same timeframe has declined from approximately 75 percent to under one-third.

Gowan and Brantner warn that such increased support for China and Russia in the General Assembly also makes it easier for them to block motions before the Security Council, where each maintains veto authority.

"It was they [China and Russia] who halted European-backed efforts to mandate action on this year's crises in Burma and Zimbabwe," conclude the authors. "Respect for sovereignty trumps humanitarian concerns, they argued."

The study links the enhanced bravado of China and Russia within the framework of the United Nations to their "growing assertiveness on human rights," noting that "it is a telling fact that the Chinese are often seen as better listeners than the EU."

And even when a vote on human rights is approved by the General Assembly, actual support for the initiative can today be below 50 percent.

"The trend lines conceal a growing sense of fragility in the European stance," according to the European Council study. "Resolutions on Burma, previously passed unanimously, have been the subject of contentious votes in the last two years."

In December 2007, the General Assembly approved a non-binding resolution against the Burmese junta for its violent crackdown on peaceful protesters earlier in the year. However, though garnering 83 votes in support against only 22 opposed, when considering all members of the body – inclusive of 47 abstentions and 40 non-votes –actual support falls to 43.2 percent.

And what of a discernibly positive correlation between democracy and agreement on a wider doctrine of universal human rights? The European Council study discloses that democratic governance does not imply a broader agreement on human rights discourse, with democracies in Asia, Latin America and Africa only voting with the EU on issues of human rights in 65 percent, 51 percent and 46 percent of relevant instances, respectively.

To effectively counter the rising influence of China and Russia in the world body, the authors argue the EU needs to chart a path of increased diplomatic outreach and expanded dialogue, especially in Africa, Asia and Latin America, developing a narrative sensitive to the concerns of regional countries and their governments.

Additionally, the EU, it is assessed, must confront what many smaller nations believe is unwillingness on the European bloc's part to criticize the policies of the United States, which is said to result in a feeling of "double standards" pervading through much of the General Assembly.

If such measures are not implemented and greater flexibility within the United Nations system not achieved, warn Gowan and Brantner, "the world organisation risks becoming a mouthpiece for China, Russia and their allies."

The dissident petition to unseat the junta in the General Assembly takes as its principle arguments the poor record of human rights inside Burma over the past twenty years in conjunction with the annulled election results of 1990, which saw Aung San Suu Kyi's Nationals League for Democracy party win a clear mandate.