This is a way to introduce the subject of the elections to the UN Security Council that are scheduled for October 10, and for which the candidates now are busily gathering pledges that may or may not be honored.
All vacancies are for a term of two years.
Life is less simple for Ireland, Italy and Norway. And for Sudan and Mauritius. What little media attention has been devoted so far to the race for seats has been concentrated mainly on filling the African vacancy, in which the US and the West generally have an interest because Sudan, the nominee of the Organization of African Unity, is regarded as a state that falls far short of acceptable standards. In the rarefied world of diplomacy, election to the Security Council brings entry to perhaps the elitest of elite clubs. Washington in particular, but also London and Paris and possibly even Moscow, have serious doubts about Khartoum, where human rights do not enjoy high priority, children are forced into military service and other perversions are common.