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John Metzler Archive
Thursday, October 18, 2007

What baggage? Hanoi, Tripoli elected to UN Security Council

UNITED NATIONS — The Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and Vietnam emerged victoriously after having been elected unopposed as new members of the UN Security Council for a two year term. This annual autumn ritual in the full General Assembly of selecting new non-permanent members to the Council, has raised eyebrows and to say the least some rancor. Both Tripoli and Hanoi will now have a vote on the UN’s most powerful fifteen member decision making body starting in January.

The Libyan break tough was quite extraordinary considering Tripoli’s political baggage.

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Once accused as being the patron saint of international terrorism, Libya’s long-ruling strongman Colonel Mummar Gadaffi has over the past few years evolved into a kinder gentler ruler. Gone are the days of his revolutionary rhetoric, his support of terrorists from the IRA to lesser known but lethal insurgencies, and his government’s alleged involvement in the destruction of American commercial airliner Pan Am 103 over Scotland and a French UTA jet over Africa. Sanctions which were slapped on Libya for its purported role the air atrocities, were lifted in 2003 after Tripoli “came clean” and paid compensation for the 270 victims.

Soon after Libya surrendered its chemical and nascent nuclear program to the U.S., the mercurial Colonel Gadaffi was morphed into a folkloric if quirky North African ruler and not the penunultimate bad guy of days past. As to the state of political and civil rights in Libya, don’t ask. The U.S. chose not to block Libyan membership as in the past.

Interestingly last week France and Libya signed a military and security accord which stemmed from an unbelievable stroke of good luck by the French President Nicolas Sarkozy in securing the release of Bulgarian medical hostages in Libya. Once Tripoli freed the nurses, the European Union warmed to better relations which will likely translate into commercial deals for oil exploration and developing the Libya’s run down economy. Equally Libya has announced a $40 billion Investment Authority, a sovereign wealth fund that will make portfolio investments in real estate and foreign companies.

Libya will sit on the Council representing Africa and is not expected to play the spoiler. Burkina Faso a developing Sub-Saharan state, gained the other African seat unopposed, and may I say deservedly.

Turning to the Asian seat, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam will sit round the horseshoe table, the first time in its history. Here too we see an Indochinese land which is changing at long last from a dour communist country to thriving economy. Politically though Vietnam is quite like Mainland China—it is ok to get rich, just keep out of politics reserved for the chosen few in the ruling communist party. While Hanoi may often side with its old comrades in Moscow, it may not see eye to eye with Beijing an old nemesis.

Here too the once antagonistic U.S. did not block Vietnam, but rather allowed its candidacy to go forward unopposed. This contrasts with last years drawn out political slugfest between Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela and Guatemala in which 47 ballots failed to produce the required two-thirds majority. Panama gained the position as a compromise candidate.

This year the contest for the Latin American /Caribbean seat was again quite spirited with Costa Rica challenged by the Dominican Republic. Both countries have impressive democratic credentials and standing, but Costa Rica won the place.

The East European seat too was chosen amicably between two young democracies—the Czech Republic and Croatia. The Czech Republic’s golden democratic credentials failed to gain more than 81 votes out of required majority of 125. Croatia, a prosperous part of the former Yugoslavia and an emerging candidate for NATO and European Union membership, won the seat after the Czechs withdrew their candidacy after the second ballot. As a young democracy, Croatia can be expected to side with Washington and the Europeans on security challenges such as Iranian nuclear proliferation and human rights issues such as Sudan.

After this shuffling of the diplomatic deck of cards, come January the Security Council will have a new look; the Permanent Five veto wielding members China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and the United States will be joined by these new members and the five other non-permanent members Belgium, Indonesia, Italy, Panama and South Africa.

The political game continues with new players.


John J. Metzler is a U.N. correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He writes weekly for World Tribune.com.


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