The size of delegations has always affected how well they can negotiate at international conferences. But because of the current three-week span of intensive work on the ICC statute while the plenary is suspended, this time size matters even more.

"I can't keep up," one representative from a developing country says. "I have to be everywhere at once, and I can't convince my government that they have to pay more attention now."

A delegate from a smaller European nation concurs. "To be successful at this meeting, you really need at least 10 people to attend all the committees and working groups," he argues. "And then you still need faxes, computers, an entire arrangement that most smaller delegations simply don't have here."

The relative size of some delegations has a clear political consequence, as well. The United States, for example, boasts an official delegation that comprises 40 people, compared to Uzbekistan, whose sole listed representative is the first secretary to Italy, Sergey Ivanchenko. In addition, Washington also has considerable political and legal resources backing up its team in Rome. What that means, one analyst says, is that the US delegation can constantly offer "an endless supply of clauses and amendments" which smaller delegations must then spend a considerable amount of time reviewing.

But the United States is not the largest delegation. Italy, the host country, boasts 58 members, while other European nations often exceed 30. Unsurprisingly, those nations have rivalled the United States in issuing proposals that require a considerable amount of study and legal review. That flood of paper is adding to the grueling pace that the smaller delegations must maintain simply to keep up with negotiations. "Remember, this is only the second week," the European delegate cautions. "By the fourth week, I don't know what many countries are going to do."

Some countries have already buckled under the weight of keeping up with vastly larger delegations, to the point where, one ambassador claims, many informal consultations are being conducted only among Western states. "It's quite intentional," he says. "As the negotiations continue, the amount of input from the developing countries declines." Farhan Haq/IPS