Publication

This paper describes how 10 of the 15 seats on the UN Security Council are held by rotating members that serve two-year terms. The authors find that a country's US aid increases by 59 percent and its UN aid by 8 percent when it rotates onto the council. The paper details how such an effect increases during years in which key diplomatic events take place and when rotating members' votes are especially valuable. The authors describe how the timing of such an effect closely tracks a country's election to and exit from the Security Council. The paper also explains that generally many UN results appear to be driven by UNICEF, an organization over which the United States has historically exerted great control.