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Whether Canada will sit on the UN Security Council any time in the next decade, let alone under a Liberal government, let alone on Justin Trudeau’s watch, is a question about which there is more than a shade of reasonable doubt.

Yet in his haste to ensure that the world knows Canada is “back,” the prime minister, proudly parading UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon around Ottawa last week, flashed the tantalizing bauble of a return to the glory days when Canadians occupied one of the non-permanent Security Council seats at the world’s biggest diplomatic gabfest.

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But here are some questions: Is it essential that we be on the UN Security Council in order to realize our foreign policy goals? If so, how – and when – are we going to get there?

UN backers answer yes to the first question. Although the term is only two years, and Security Council members who aren’t among the Permanent Five can’t veto anything, being at the table wins you more respect, gives you a louder voice, and offers a better chance of a hearing for your agenda, they argue. Assuming you have an agenda.