In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, Japan has been forced to review its diplomatic strategy for gaining a long-coveted permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.
The first obvious result of this review has been Japan's decision to back down from an initial plan to seek a two-year nonpermanent membership of the powerful council in an election this autumn. Tokyo has considered temporary membership to be an important steppingstone toward a permanent role.
Of the 15 council seats, five are held by permanent members with veto power — the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China. The remaining 10 seats are held by nonpermanent members and are allotted regionally — three to Africa, two each to Asia, Latin America and Western Europe, and one to Eastern Europe.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.