Pakistan is in!

On 21 October 2011 the General Assembly in the United Nations’ Headquarter in New York, held an election about filling five empty posts in the Security Council. Nine countries ran for five non-permanent seats in the Council. Those who win have their position for two years. This year, Azerbaijan, Guatemala, Morocco, Pakistan, and Togo won the chance to become involved in the work of the UN Security Council (UNSC).

Certainly, opinions are divided about Pakistan’s membership especially because India, its main “enemy”, has been member of the Council since June this year. The tense situation between the two countries inspired me to do a small research on them, how experts see Pakistan’s positions and what they expect from her in the Security Council.

First of all, this is not the first time India and Pakistan are members of the Security Council at the same time. It was the year of 1977 when they were both part of the Council. The countries had three wars since they gained their independence from Great Britain in 1947. I’ve read in several articles, diplomats in the UN do not think the membership of Pakistan will cause any tension in the Security Council. The only possible problem will be if Russia, China and Pakistan decide to vote against US and EU supported sanctions regarding Syria and Iran.

According to Abdul Ruff’s article, specialist and analyst of International Affairs, there are plenty of expectations towards Pakistan in the UNSC. First of all, it has to facilitate peace and prosperity in Pakistan. As Abdul Ruff stated, Pakistan has to be deliberate not to become trapped by Islamic states that might want to use the country for their own interests neglecting the interest of humanity. Pakistan is expected to fight against “illegal terror war” as well and with a truthful fight it could end the “US led NATO wars” said Mr. Ruff.

As a conclusion, there are many hopes and expectations Pakistan has to face within the upcoming two years in the UNSC.

The ten non-permanent seats are rotating between different regions. This year, the African, Asian, Latin American, Caribbean and Eastern European regions fell vacant. For the Asian region, originally Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan and Fiji ran but Fiji withdrew its campaign in favour of Pakistan.

-Barbara Hanis-