Turkey and Austria will join Uganda, Mexico, and Japan as the newest members of the Security Council, defeating what was once considered a strong campaign by Iceland.
Iceland had lobbied hard, although its financial crisis had raised questions about its candidacy. Turkey won 151 votes and Austria 133, surpassing in the first round of voting the 128 votes required for the two-thirds majority out of 192 votes cast.
Reykjavik ultimately garnered only 87 votes, and, because of the anonymous voting procedure, we’ll never know whether it was Iceland’s financial crisis that undid its bid, or the fact that it contributes only two police officers to UN peacekeeping, compared to the 792 personnel provided by Turkey. Hopefully, though, no unsavory dried shark dishes made it onto the table where Iceland was touting its dessert pancakes.
As for Iran’s quixotic campaign, Tehran gained only 32 votes to Japans’ 158, bringing the sort of resounding defeat that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad probably was not looking for.