Back to collaborative diplomacy?

By Jonathan Marcus
BBC diplomatic correspondent

The US is tightening the screws on Bashar al-Assad

The United Nations Security Council is to vote on Monday on a toughly worded resolution designed to increase international pressure on Syria.

The resolution aimed at the government of President Bashar al-Assad was drafted by Britain, France and the United States.

The Bush administration has explicitly sought to use the UN to influence Syria's behaviour.

It has also worked closely with its European and other allies.

So is this a sign of a shift in the style of US diplomacy?

For all its scepticism towards international organisations the United States appears to have re-discovered the UN with a vengeance.

Referral to the UN

The UN Security Council is Washington's favoured instrument for bringing pressure to bear on Syria.

The Bush administration is also eager to have Iran referred to the UN over its controversial nuclear programme.

The US has been working through the UN's nuclear watchdog - the International Atomic Energy Agency - to prepare for just such a referral.

On both Syria and Iran the US has worked closely with key allies

On both Syria and Iran the US has worked closely with key European governments like Britain, France and Germany.

Though the UN is not so clearly involved in diplomacy towards North Korea, here too Washington has sought a diplomatic approach giving significant weight to China's role.

So what does this all add up to? Having taken a largely unilateral approach towards the Iraq crisis, has Washington again recognised the benefits of collaborative diplomacy?

Or is this more a reflection of the current constraints facing the Americans?

With its forces bogged down in Iraq and with no easy military options towards either Syria or Iran there is little other option but to try and up the diplomatic and economic pressure.

In part both arguments are true. The essential question is whether this all represents a fundamental shift in the style or the substance of US foreign policy.

With the first anniversary of the start of Mr Bush's second term fast approaching, there are some indications at least that neo-conservative idealism is slowly giving way to greater realism in foreign affairs.