A frightening prospect if there ever was one…
3. Islamic Bloc Wants Permanent Seat on Security Council
The Islamic world should be granted permanent member status on the United Nations Security Council, according to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation's secretary-general.
At a recent speech in Moscow, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu asserted that the 57-member OIC, the largest international organization outside the U.N., deserves “a new position.”
“I think there should be a seat for OIC in the Security Council,” he said. “If you look to the structure of the Council today, you have the [five permanent members] and there are representatives of different civilizations, different cultures, political powers.
“But you won't find a representative of more than 1.6 billion people of the Muslin world.”
Ihsanoglu referred to a Pew Research Center report forecasting that the Muslim population of the world will reach 2.2 billion by 2030 and comprise 26.4 percent of the projected global population.
The Council now has five permanent members with veto power — the United States, Russia, China, Britain, and France — and 10 non-permanent members serving two-year terms.
The existing permanent members have been unwilling to extend veto power to any other nations, CNS News reported.
The countries viewed as the strongest contenders for permanent status are India, Japan, Brazil, Germany, and South Africa. No single Islamic country has been viewed as a likely addition to that group.
Ihsanoglu's proposal would allow countries within the OIC to rotate as permanent council members.
The OIC was founded in 1969 and its secretariat is based in Saudi Arabia. Its official languages are Arabic, English, and French.
The organization states that it is “the collective voice of the Muslim world” and works to “safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony.”
