The convoy grinds through New York City traffic, sirens blaring, horns honking, New Yorkers complaining. In the end, Johann Wadephul, Germany's foreign minister, arrives at the United Nations with only a couple of minutes to spare.

Wadephul is in the heart of the 80-year-old institution, its most powerful body, the Security Council . His three-minute address is about maritime security, the damaging effects of the war in Iran and especially the closure of the Strait of Hormuz .

Speech delivered, Wadephul takes a seat at the famous horseshoe-shaped Security Council table. But someone quickly asks him to rather take a seat in the adjacent rows because Germany is not a member of the Security Council — at least not yet.

Why is Wadephul at the United Nations?

Wadephul's mission is to is to get Germany back to that table for two years, from 2027 to 2028 .

It wouldn't be a first.…