NEW YORK : How does a small city-state of less than four million people fit into a global organization of 189 states, make a special contribution that enables it to stand out among its peers, and even get elected to the Security Council?

Kishore Mahbubani, Singapore's permanent representative to the United Nations, explains it thus: "We have no political muscle, but we provide political ideas."

Ambassador Kishore Mahbubani of Singapore is a staunch supporter of the U.N.  - and not just because he was born on U.N.  Day.  He has developed a deep empathy and affection for the U.N.  during his years in New York.  "Even though among hard-headed strategic thinkers, it is considered soft-headed to be a defender of the U.N.," he says.  

"On the one hand, the U.N.  is a great for small states because of the principle of sovereign equality," he goes on.  China, with 1.2 billion people, and Singapore, with less than four million, have the same voting rights.  And that's remarkable."

"On the other hand, the real power within the U.N.  is, of course, in the Security Council." Many States - big and small - strive to be in the council, but few succeed.  The campaigning is fierce, often down and dirty.  And so it was quite a tribute to Singapore, and its long line of brilliant ambassadors at the U.N., that, two years ago, it was elected unopposed to the council.  "And those two years have been an incredible learning experience for us, especially after Sept.  11," says Ambassador Mahbubani.  "It's one thing to learn the theory of international relations, it's quite another to see how decisions are made in practice.  And, of course, the reality is that policies are conditioned by the interests of the major powers."

Singapore has no illusions on that score.  "We are a small country and small countries don't change the course of international relations," he says.

Maybe not, but at the U.N, small countries can often punch above their weight, if they have the kind of serious, hard-working, intellectually able ambassadors that Singapore prides itself on sending to the organization.  

And if Singapore cannot influence the policy of the "big boys" on, say, Kosovo or Rwanda or the Middle East, it can certainly play an active role in other areas - particularly administration.  Take, for instance, the working methods of the Security Council.  "It is almost a medieval institution," says Ambassador Mahbubani, "and we have tried to introduce some changes to make it more modern." To give just one example, the council produces a 600-page report every year that is essentially a rehash of previous reports.  Each page of this report costs thousands of dollars.  It has now been cut down to 200 pages, resulting in substantial savings.

Singapore also lobbied to have the list of council speakers drawn by lots, so that no one country got a preferential time for its statement, and thus, perhaps, a slight edge over others.  Coming from what he thinks is the "best civil service in the world" - "we try to follow the Japanese principle of doing better every day" - it is no wonder that Singaporean delegates strive to modernize the working methods of the international civil service.  And as hard-working as they are, being on the Security Council involves so much extra work that the mission had to be almost doubled in size.

Besides being on the Security Council, Singapore is also long-time chairman of the Forum of Small States, which has about 80 members working together to improve the lot of small countries.  Despite his heavy work-load, Ambassador Mahbubani is a serious thinker and writer, who has written a lot on the U.N.  and on global problems.  His book, 'Can Asians Think?' - a collection of essays on understanding the divide between East and West - was called "interesting, provocative and intellectually engaging" by no less a thinker and writer than Henry Kissinger.  And Paul Volcker, the much-respected former chairman of the Federal Reserve, had this to say.  "If you are looking for insight into how others perceive us - and the events of Sept.  11 underscore that need - then I know of no better guide than Kishore Mahbubani.  His collection of lively essays will both inform and challenge your thinking."

But it has also aroused controversy - as perhaps it was meant to.  One critic's caustic comment was: "Can Asians Think? Of course.  But after reading this book, I wasn't too sure about Mahbubani." Another reviewer in the Economist said: "For a diplomat, Kishore Mahbubani is refreshingly rude."

Perhaps that is because he writes as he speaks, honestly and candidly.  "That is a Singaporean trademark," he says proudly.

He is also proud that his country is a race-blind meritocracy, and that he, the son of poor Sindhi parents who had emigrated to Singapore, could rise to the top of the civil service ladder.  Mahbubani grew up in a completely Indian household, and even went to Hindi and Sindhi schools as a child, though he doesn't use either language much today.  But when the stresses and strains of international diplomacy get too much for him, he loves to relax with the music of Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar - that is when he is not jogging 18 hours a week or playing golf.  Ambassador Mahbubani is a staunch supporter of the U.N.  - and not just because he was born on U.N.  Day.  He has developed a deep empathy and affection for the U.N.  during his years in New York.  "Even though among hard-headed strategic thinkers, it is considered soft-headed to be a defender of the U.N.," he says.

"For a long time, the major powers tacitly agreed that, whatever their differences, they were better off with a less independent and more compliant U.N.," he wrote in one of his essays.  "Hence, for the past few decades, the U.N.  has been relegated to a peripheral rather than a central role in international affairs.  The U.N.  was told clearly to steer clear of many important and vital international issues, such as the Vietnam war and (after some initial involvement) the Middle East peace process, even though the charter clearly mandates the Security Council with the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.  For most of its existence, the U.N.  has been crippled not by accident, but by design."

But the events of Sept.  11 have changed the political landscape for the U.N., especially vis-a-vis the only super-power, he says.  The nature of the U.N.-U.S.  relationship is thus bound to change - and he is not shy of calling for new U.S.  thinking on the U.N.  "The case for a stronger U.N.  is as simple as it is obvious."

"American technology has changed the world.  Distance has disappeared.  The world has shrunk to a global village.  Every village needs a village council.  The U.N.  represents the only real village council we have.  There is no other."