BERLIN, June 5 -- ever defeat in a UN Security Council election on Wednesday, losing to Portugal and Austria in the race for non-permanent seats.

Why did Europe's largest economy, which had successfully secured one of the Western European seats on the Security Council every eight years for decades, lose the election this time? Here is what we know.

A QUICK DEFEAT

Without going through multiple rounds of voting like Kyrgyzstan and the Philippines, Germany, a country that has long sought a permanent seat on the Security Council, was knocked out in the first round of the race in the group of Western European and Others.

According to the election rules, candidates must secure a two-thirds majority of votes cast to win a seat. In the two-o...