The InterDependent

It's been called the United Nations' beauty pageant: Every year, a handful of states compete for the five rotating seats on the U.N. Security Council up for election. Countries' delegations pull out all the diplomatic stops-from opening new embassies to hosting cruises around the Greek Islands-in hope of winning the necessary two-thirds majority vote in the U.N. General Assembly. Some Permanent Representatives ignore instructions from their Foreign Ministry, supporting the country known for putting on the best cocktail parties. With a secret ballot system, it is hard to ever predict which member states will triumph until the votes are counted.

As much of a show game as the elections can sometimes appear, the new members of the UN's top political decision-making body always arrive at the table with concrete ambitions for their time in the chamber. This year's members-elect-Morocco, Togo, Guatemala, Pakistan, and Azerbaijan-will be no exception when they take up their seats on January 1, 2012. They'll join permanent powers the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia and China, as well as five non-permanent members who still have one year left in their two-year terms-India, Colombia, Germany, Portugal and South Africa. Brazil, Nigeria, Lebanon, Gabon and Bosnia & Herzegovina will relinquish their seats at the table to make way for the new members.

Here's a preview of what the new seat holders will focus on during their 24 months on the council.

UN Photo

Colleagues congratulate Morocco on its rotating seat on the UN Security Council

Morocco (African Group)

The campaign: Morocco will fill not only one of the African regional seats but also the Arab rotational membership when it joins the council in January. Though the country did not receive the official endorsement of the African Union (AU), (it withdrew from the organization's predecessor, the Organization of African Unity, in 1984,) Rabat still secured widespread support across the continent, winning with a landslide 151 votes. Morocco beat out Mauritania, which had boasted its ties to the AU.

The issues: Morocco has served on the Security Council twice before, and both times, its political priority was the Western Sahara, a territory which it annexed in 1975 after colonial Spain relinquished control. The territory has been in dispute since then; a 1991 ceasefire leaves most of the territory, including the entire coastline, under Rabat's purview. Morocco seeks full sovereign control over the region, dimming any Western Saharan hopes for independence, while most major Western powers have taken a neutral stance in the dispute. During the country's membership of the Security Council, Morocco will almost certainly attempt to trade electoral support for other council members' positions for public solidarity with their efforts.

In addition to voting with an eye toward Western Sahara, Morocco's past voting record suggests that it will also likely align very strongly with the United States.

Togo (Africa Group)

The campaign: Togo won its seat on the council thanks to a system of regional rotation that divvies up seats within the African Union. This tiny country of just six million people wedged between Ghana, Benin and Burkina Faso, is a bit of a wildcard: Togo has never served on the Council before. Still, the former French colony seems eager to make a major contribution.

The issues: During its campaign, Togo focused heavily on the concerns of the Global South, including supporting calls for the establishment of a permanent seat in their name. The country will likely find common cause with two other rotating members, India and Germany, who are both keen for permanent seats on an expanded Council as well.

In addition, Togo will officially focus on ensuring equality within human rights and international law but is unlikely to kick up a fuss on more contentious issues.

Guatemala (Latin American & Caribbean Group)

The campaign: Guatemala is one of only six original UN member states to have never served on the Security Council. Thanks to a rotational system in Latin America similar to that used by the African Group, the country was elected unopposed. It was quite a contrast to 2006, when the country boldly competed-in disregard of the rotational system-against Venezuela. That contest stretched into 48 rounds of voting and only ended when a compromise candidate, Panama, emerged.

The issues: Guatemala has staked its membership on helping improve the working procedures of the Council, specifically stating its intention to try and foster heightened discussion and input from the member states around the table.

On the operations side, Guatemala has an increasing profile in worldwide peacekeeping operations, participating in missions in its own backyard in Haiti as well as the far flung jungles of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It also expressed a desire in its campaign brochure to ensure "more realistic and pragmatic peacekeeping mandates," for example by focusing on goal-orientated missions that do not involved a protracted or hostile presence on the ground.

Of all new members, Guatemala is the most strongly aligned with the United States and is expected to almost without exception support their voting behavior.

Pakistan (Asian Group)

The campaign: Pakistan beat the last-minute candidacy of Kyrgyzstan to win its seat representing Asian nations. (The other candidate, Fiji, withdrew at the beginning of 2011 once the strength of Pakistan's candidacy became clear.) Only a month prior to the vote, Kyrgyzstan unexpectedly announced its intention to contest the seat; many countries announcing their candidacy years in advance. Switzerland, for example, has already announced it will contest for a 2023 seat.

The impoverished former Soviet State was unequivocally the underdog from the outset, but Kyrgyzstan did have two powerful things going for it: the presence of American and Russian military bases and a prominent female leader with supporters in the Western World. When the votes were tallied, the country lost to Pakistan, but it still received the support of over a quarter of the General Assembly.

Pakistan now joins the Council side by side its longtime rival, India. Despite heated disputes elsewhere, however, the have served on the Council - indeed quite effectively - three times before, most recently in 1984.

The issues: Pakistan will likely be a minor headache for the United States on the Council. Since an American raid on the country's soil in May that led to the death of al Qaeda leader Osama Bin-Laden, Pakistan has been eager to reassert its sovereignty. Local media widely reported the UN seat as opportunity to do just that, promoting not just the combating of terrorism but also non-interference by Western powers in the domestic affairs of smaller nations. In the context of the pressing issues up for discussion, this likely means that Pakistan will join China, Russia, India and South Africa in resisting pressure from the United States and European powers to impose and heighten sanctions on Syria and Iran, among others.

UN Photo

The Azerbaijani delegation celebrates victory

Azerbaijan (Eastern European Group)

The campaign: Azerbaijan, located at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, will serve its first term on the Security Council since becoming a member of the UN in 1992. The country's election took 17 rounds of voting before it triumphed over Slovenia.

The issues: As a young state, Azerbaijan has stated its desire to ensure greater transparency on the workings of the Council and foster greater consultation with member states-a similar agenda to that of Guatemala. Although the country also enjoys the strong support of the Arab League, Azerbaijan has focused its foreign policy almost exclusively in recent years on building linkages with the United States and is unlikely to depart from that on the council.

Closer to home, Azerbaijan will also likely seek to use its position to influence its neighbor and longtime rival, Armenia. The two countries have fought two wars, most recently from 1988 to 1994 over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, and have no formal diplomatic relations. In a similar vein to Morocco, it is possible they will leverage their votes to galvanize support for their position vis-à-vis the rival neighbor.