PM talks peace in bid to secure UN SC seat [-Hun Xen's siren song?]

Hun Xen toting a gun ... for PISS? (Photo: AFP)

Monday, 03 September 2012
Bridget Di Certo
The Phnom Penh Post

Prime Minister Hun Sen has requested the support of the 120 Non-Aligned Movement countries for Cambodia’s bid at a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council.

Speaking in Tehran, Iran, on Friday, where this year’s NAM summit is being held, the premier called for the “invaluable support of all members of NAM” for Cambodia to succeed in its first attempt to win a seat on the Security Council.

“Cambodia continues to support the expansion of both permanent and nonpermanent membership of the UN SC, with the purpose to make the council more transparent and effective,” Hun Sen said to the delegations, which represent about 60 per cent of seats at the General Assembly that will vote next month for nonpermanent Security Council seats.

Cambodia, whose only competition for the Asian seat is Bhutan, has been working hard to secure the seat, and touts its history as a proprietor of peace as a winning characteristic.

Congo Supports Cambodia's Candidacy For UNSC Seat

PHNOM PENH, March 20 (Bernama) -- The Republic of the Congo on Monday revealed its support to Cambodia's candidacy for a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) from 2013-2014.

The support was pledged during a meeting between Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and Henri Djombo, Congo's Minister of Sustainable Development, Forestry and Environment, and Alain Akouala Atipault, Congo's Minister in charge of Special Economic Zones.

Should the UN allow Cambodia's candidacy to the non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council?

How much is a seat at the UNSC? - Foreign Aid and Bribery at the UN

Dear All,

This may be of interest to the discussions on UNSC bid.

It's no coincidence that Cambodia bids for UNSC post now while big powers are jostling for influence and given the Cambodia's relations with all of them.

Conclusions from a working paper on benefits of UNSC posts (from google search) in the document attached.

V. Conclusion

Thus far, we have argued that non-permanent members of the U.N. Security Council receive extra foreign aid from the United States and the United Nations, especially during years when the attention focused on the council is greatest. Our results suggest that council membership itself, and not simply some omitted variable, drives the aid increases. On average, the typical developing country serving on the council can anticipate an additional $16 million from the United States and $1 million from the United Nations. During important years, these numbers rise to $45 million from the United States and $8 million from the United Nations.

Finally, the U.N. finding may actually be further evidence of U.S. influence: UNICEF, an organization over which the United States has historically had great control, seems to be driving the increase in U.N. aid.

Ideally, a study of vote-buying in the United Nations would test for the ability of Security Council aid to influence actual voting. Unfortunately, this is difficult for two reasons. First, we cannot observe the counter-factual: how the country would have voted in the absence of vote-buying activity. Second, votes themselves are strategic. Agenda setters typically know, before putting a resolution up for a vote, the preferences of each member. Perhaps this is why most Security Council resolutions are passed unanimously, and why failed resolutions are rare—recall that the 2003 resolution to authorize the invasion of Iraq never actually came to a vote. Due to these identification problems, we believe that actual outlays of aid are the most trustworthy way to measure the presence of vote-buying in the Security Council. By providing extra aid to non-permanent members of the council, especially during years when council votes are especially important, agenda setters have implicitly revealed their faith in the Security Council’s relevance in world affairs.

V.

http://www.box.com/s/xczloo8zq670nhza8em1

Cambodia seeks UNSC non-permanent membership when it can't even feed its people nor defend its borders

February 10, 2007
Cambodia seeks support from Spain for UNSC non-permanent membership

Cambodian has tried to secure support from Spain for its application for non-permanent membership of the Security Council of the United Nations from 2013 to 2014, an official told Xinhua on Friday.

The Cambodian deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, Hor Nam Hong, expressed this desire to Spanish Deputy Foreign Minister Leire Pajin Iraola, who arrived here on Thursday on a two-day visit, said Ros Simara, head of the information department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Iraola promised to report this issue to the minister, he said.

Cambodia has not assumed any major posts in the United Nations for a long time and now it hopes to apply for non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council from 2013 to 2014, he added.

Meanwhile, Ros Simara confirmed that Spain will open its embassy in Cambodia in 2008.

Hor Nam Hong has asked the Spanish side to open the embassy as soon as possible in order to make it easy for both countries to cooperate on bilateral issues, he added.

In addition, said Ros Simara, the deputy foreign minister apologized for canceling the official visit of Queen Sofia of Spain to Cambodia, originally scheduled for Feb. 8, because one of her relatives died of road accident.

The queen will realize her visit to Cambodia in an appropriate time in the future, he added.

Source: Xinhua