On Tuesday, June 3, 2025, Liberia achieved an important diplomatic victory: winning a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). It marks the first time in nearly five decades that Liberia has held such a position, placing it among 15 global powers responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security. For President Joseph Nyuma Boakai and his administration, this victory offers both an opportunity for elevated international status and a daunting responsibility to transform symbolism into substance for the Liberian people.
President Boakai’s foreign policy has been marked by a return to quiet diplomacy, strategic re-engagement with international partners, and an emphasis on institutional credibility. Liberia’s election to the UNSC is widely seen as a validation of this approach.It signals that the international community now views Liberia as a stable, reliable, and democratic partner, worthy of a seat at the world’s most powerful diplomatic table. For the Boakai administration, this is a diplomatic and political triumph. It also offers a rare moment of unity and national pride in a country often fragmented along political and ethnic lines.
Yet, the win also intensifies expectations. The administration must now use its UNSC platform to advocate for African security priorities, address global issues like climate change and conflict prevention, and uphold the principles of peace and human rights. Any failure to engage meaningfully on these issues risks turning this historic opportunity into a missed one.
With the seat comes significant diplomatic responsibility. Liberia will need to weigh in on critical votes concerning global peacekeeping missions, sanctions, nuclear proliferation, and international crises, including Sudan, Gaza, Ukraine, and Taiwan. Liberia must bring not only an African perspective but also a uniquely Liberian voice, one shaped by the country’s own painful experience of civil war, reconciliation, and democratic rebuilding.
However, the real challenge lies in converting this global prestige into local impact. The average Liberian, grappling with daily struggles of poverty, unemployment, corruption, and lack of basic services, will ask: “How does this help me?”
Symbolism matters, but only when it connects to tangible outcomes. If used wisely, Liberia’s new diplomatic stature could attract increased development assistance, economic partnerships, and greater influence in international decision-making forums. These could translate into expanded support for education, health care, climate resilience, and youth employment back home.
But the benefits will not be automatic. For ordinary Liberians to feel the impact, the Boakai administration must deliberately link its foreign policy wins to domestic priorities. That means improving transparency, investing in human capital, and building the capacity of Liberia’s foreign service and civil institutions to leverage the opportunities this position presents.
Moreover, this UNSC seat must not become a mere public relations trophy. It should serve as a tool for genuine engagement with both the international community and Liberia’s own citizens, particularly the youth, who remain disconnected from the global image the country now projects.
Liberia’s new seat offers the country a powerful platform, but it will not change Liberia by itself. What it can do, however, is catalyze change if met with purposeful leadership, strong institutions, and national unity. It can foster pride, boost morale, and provide new avenues for international cooperation. But the hard work of governance, including fighting corruption, improving public services, and delivering justice, must continue at home.
The Boakai administration must resist the temptation to over-celebrate and under-deliver. Liberia’s seat on the UN Security Council is not the destination; it is a rare opening in a long journey toward national transformation.
Ultimately, history will not judge Liberia by the applause it receives at the UN, but by the lives it improves on Broad Street, in Ganta, Buchanan, Zwedru, and across the nation.
The world is watching. So are Liberians.
