On January 1, 2026, Somalia officially assumed the presidency of the UN Security Council for January. This event sparked a flurry of memes and jokes on social media: many recall that just 15–20 years ago, Somali pirates were the main threat to global shipping, and the UN Security Council passed resolutions to combat them. Now, a country associated by many with piracy and instability will chair the body responsible for global security.
The chairmanship of the Security Council rotates monthly among the 15 members of the council in alphabetical order (based on the English names of the countries). Somalia is a non-permanent member of the Security Council for 2025–2026 (elected in 2024 along with Denmark, Greece, Pakistan, and Panama). The position of chair is purely procedural: it involves organizing the agenda, chairing meetings, and representing the council to the outside world. There are no superpowers — the veto remains with the five permanent members (the US, Russia, China, France, and the UK).
This is a diplomatic success for Somalia: the country is highlighting its progress in stabilizing after decades of civil war. Somalia’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Abdukar Dahir Osman, has already held a press conference where he outlined the program of work for January, focusing on peacekeeping, the fight against terrorism (including Al-Shabaab), and humanitarian issues.
Critics call the situation absurd: Somalia remains one of the most unstable countries in the world, with problems of terrorism, corruption, and humanitarian crisis. The media and social networks joke: “Pirates at the helm of the Security Council — will resolutions now be adopted with hooks and parrots?”