The United Nations General Assembly voted on Friday to give two-year terms on the influential fifteen-nation Security Council to five nations. The United Arab Emirates, Gabon, Ghana, Albania, and Brazil all ran unchallenged for available seats in their regional groups, and each country took the necessary 2-3rd majority needed of the secret ballots cast.

All these countries will start their terms on 1st January 2022. Moreover, the council deals with matters of peace and security globally. It also has the authority to deploy mediators to trouble regions and to sanction bad actors. New member countries bring different experiences, national interests, and viewpoints to the council and can slightly affect dynamics among its members.

The General Assembly has just elected 5 new countries as non-permanent members of the @UN Security Council for 2022-2023.

We congratulate them and look forward to working closely with them for international peace and security. pic.twitter.com/Iiz4Iqborp

— Nicolas de Rivière (@NDeRiviere) June 11, 2021

The Security Council members currently have many Middle Eastern crises on its agenda, including the Palestinian-Israeli issue and conflicts in Yemen, Libya, and Syria. The United Nations director for the International Crisis Group, Richard Gowan, says the UAE may play a vital role in those areas and elsewhere.

Gown said that the United Arab Emirates has a lot of influence not only in its region, such as the Middle East but also in the Horn of Africa. Likewise, other council members will hope the UAE will use their influence to help stabilize the bad conditions of nations such as Ethiopia and Sudan.

The United Nations Failed to Stop the Balkan War

Gowan highlights that Albania is a nation that observed the United Nations fail badly in its region in the past. In addition, the U.N. failed to stop the Balkan war that fought in the early 1990s, leading to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) bombing in 1995. Afterward, in 1999, ethnic Albanians of Kosovo fought against Serbs to gain independence.

The main interest of Albania on the United Nations agenda is, of course, still Kosovo, but on the other hand, the council only has minimal influence there. Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE Envoy, noted that the work of the Security Council doesn’t end when resolutions are adopted.

She said that the United Arab Emirates will be part of the alliance that always expresses to strengthen the results-oriented council nature as much as possible. Further, she adds that the Security Council is most effectively perform when it is unified. However, during the last few years, diverging views, specifically among its permanent members such as Russia, the U.K., China, the U.S., and France – have stymied action on crucial issues.

Council Record is Pathetic in the Recent Crisis

In the recent crisis, the record of the council is pathetic, according to the statement of Louis Charbonneau, the United Nations director at Human Rights Watch. His statement adds that whether it involves massive human rights abuses in Myanmar, killings in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, or war crimes from Israel in Gaza, the most one can usually expect is the periodic statement of concern.

The Friday elected nations will replace exiting Security Council members such as Saint Vincent, the Grenadines, Niger, Vietnam, Estonia, and Tunisia on 1st January. These five countries will join five other current non-permanent members such as Norway, Kenya, Mexico, Ireland, and India, and the five veto-wielding permanent members such as China, the United States, the U.K., Russia, and France.

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