Challenges of leadership (Canada again elected to a two-year term on the UN Security Council).

Canadian multilateralism received a welcome boost when Canada was again elected to a two-year term on the UN Security Council. A middle power sharing the better part of a continent with a decidedly big and sometimes contrary power, Canada will find in the Security Council one more forum in which to exploit its expertise in building alliances and common cause among the like-minded.

But power and influence are not a consequence of just being at the table, they are the products of skill, integrity, and a willingness to back up good intentions with resources. Canadian experience in addressing anti-personnel landmines, in creating the International Criminal Court, and in peacekeeping is evidence, as Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy noted, of our capacity "to play an effective and constructive role on the Council and help prepare it to meet the challenges of the coming century." At the same time, the steep decline in Canadian overseas development spending, down to 0.3 per cent of GNP despite an official target of 0.7 per cent, will inevitably impair Canada's effectiveness.

And there is no shortage of challenges. Indeed, most of the issues covered in the following pages are worthy contenders for prominent spots on the Security Council's agenda. High on the list is the still menacing presence of tens of thousands of nuclear weapons. Here the challenge is not so much to figure out what to do (see pages 11-16) as it is to find the courage to do it. In the case of the proliferation and misuse of small arms there is still work needed to identify the specific, concrete actions that will be most effective, but as the report on page 18 shows, there is already enough information and understanding available to identify the broad policy framework and program of action required. In this issue we also explore some of the new peace and security challenges that face us in the approach to a new millennium - notably the challenge to control the new mercenaries or, as they now prefer to be seen, the commercial security firms who promise peace in exchange for profit.

The challenges are myriad, but the human and material resources available to Canada are also considerable. We're pleased that Canada has been given another great opportunity to deploy those resources for the public good.