Thursday, September 16, 2010

Merkel to Revive Germany's Quest for a Permanent Security Council Seat

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit New York for the UN development summit and she will lobby for a permanent seat for Germany on the UN Security Council. The G-4 group (Germany, India, Brazil, Japan, and South Korea) wants to add 6 more permanent seats to the UN Security Council. Germany is a good citizen of the UN: it pays 8% of the budget, offers a constructive voice on the budget, and helps with peace-building in Africa. China and Russia believe that Germany would dilute their own power. Italy is very opposed because Germany would detract from Italy's own influence. Britain and France are vocally committed to Germany's cause but won't compromise their own positions. Japan and India would shift some focus to Asian security issues but China may or may not welcome that. If reforms were to go through, Brazil and India would most likely receive seats because of the UNs commitment to emerging powers but Germany probably would not because of Europe's over-representation.

Rebecca M. Samson

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