Welcome to the Security Council

 The General Assembly held Security Council elections yesterday.  As is the case with many procedures at the UN, a certain number of seats are set aside for specific regional blocs.  And, as is often the case, the blocs decide amongst themselves who will stand for election.  This is what happened yesterday in which five countries ran un-opposed for five seats on the council.  The results are as follows: 

Africa & Asia: Gabon, Lebanon & Nigeria

Eastern Europe: Bosnia & Herzegovina

Latin America & the Caribbean: Brazil

These States will replace Burkina Faso, Viet Nam, Libya, Croatia and Costa Rica and will begin their two-year terms on 1 January 2010. All in all, these new members should not really change the dynamic of the council too much.