Small state, big table: the relevance of St. Vincent and the Grenadines' election to the United Nations Security Council for small states in the multilateral system

Since the genesis of the United Nations (UN), small states have lent support to multilateralism in an inherently anarchic international system. Yet, over time, these very states have encountered varying challenges in their quest to realise the full potential of multilateralism within the UN system. Seventy-five years on from the UN’s inception, St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) has attained a seat on the UN’s most powerful body, the Security Council. As the smallest state to ever sit on the Council, their election consequently elicits a much-needed reflection on the current and future role of small states in multilateralism. As such, the chapter firstly assesses the value of multilateralism for small states and their contribution to it in the context of the United Nations. It subsequently analyses SVG’ 10-year campaign which ended in their election to the Council. The methodology includes a thematic analysis of the contributions of SVG on the Council as it relates to climate change and the challenges confronting Caribbean Small Island Developing States during the period 2019-21. This is to ascertain its significance not only for the Caribbean small island state but also, for the role of small states in the UN. The expanding presence of small states in key positions in the UN may be laying the foundation for a reimagining of their role in multilateralism going forward.