Australia was last elected to the Security Council in 1984 and it is standing for election again in 2012.  Over the past 25 years the world environment and the Security Council have changed dramatically. In 1984 the Council suffered from cold war paralysis, but it is now a key instrument of 21st century security policy. Competition for election is intense. Membership of the Council now involves a completely different set of risks and opportunities.

Colin Keating was New Zealand Ambassador on the Security Council in 1993/94. He is now the Executive Director of "Security Council Report" a Columbia University think tank in New York which is the preeminent commentator on Security Council matters. He will give an insiders view of what it takes to get elected and what being on the Council could entail for Australia.

Ambassador Keating was formerly a New Zealand diplomat. He served as Legal Adviser of the New Zealand Foreign Ministry and also as Deputy Secretary of the Ministry responsible for management. He was the New Zealand Ambassador to the UN between 1993 and 1996 and served on the Security Council in 1993 and 1994. He was Council president during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and led the Council Mission to Somalia. Also, he chaired the Security Council Committee on Sanctions against Iraq and was actively involved in UN reform, serving as Co-Chair of the General Assembly working group dealing with reform at that time.  Subsequently, he was appointed as the Secretary of Justice of New Zealand.  From 2000-2004 he worked in the private sector as a partner in legal practice.

For further information, please contact:
Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy, T: 6125 7983, E: ExecutiveOfficer.APCD@anu.edu.au