Can the United Nations Security Council Be Reformed? (Repost)
Many want reform, but is it possible?
The 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly has convened at the UN headquarters in New York City over the past week. It is not unfair to say that this year it is apparent that cracks are visible in the true level of effectiveness of today’s UN. For example, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, told an audience of world leaders at UN headquarters this week that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which include things like ending extreme poverty and hunger or ensuring access to clean water and sanitation, “are woefully off-track halfway towards their 2030 deadline”. He has now called for a global rescue plan.
How effective the UN Security Council is in its fundamental job of maintaining international peace and security is another relevant question these days. As this year’s General Assembly got underway, one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, Russia, continues to violate the UN Charter with its brutal invasion of UN member Ukraine, for a second year running.
A somewhat related question, but also important this year, is the question of how seriously the heads of state of the Security Council’s five permanent members actually take their responsibilities and leadership role within the Council.
With such a violation of Ukraine’s borders still underway, four of the five heads of state from the five permanent member states, including Russia, did not show up. The job of addressing the Assembly on their behalf was delegated to more junior government representatives.
US President Joe Biden was the only P5 head of state to show up and freely speak directly to the General Assembly. As he did last year, President Biden made the case for UNSC reform saying that:
“In my address to this body last year, I announced the United States would support expanding the Security Council, increasing the number of permanent and non-permanent members.
The United States has undertaken serious consultation with many member states. And we’ll continue to do our part to push ref- — more reform efforts forward, look for points of common ground, and make progress in the year ahead. “
Reform of the UN Security Council is without doubt needed. A permanent member should not be allowed to unilaterally invade another UN member without consequence. Moreover, some of the UN's biggest financial supporters such as Germany or Japan still do not have permanent representation in the UN’s most important security body. Many parts of the world, such as Africa or Latin America, have no permanent representation at all. India, the world’s most populus country, and a nuclear power in its own right, also lacks permanent representation. In New York during the past week, many world leaders or their representatives, including those from Ukraine and Russia, also echoed the call for reform.
But reforming the Security Council is a lot easier said than done, especially as all five of its current permanent members have the power to veto such reforms. It only takes one P5 member to veto specific reform proposals, and different permanent members have different preferences. Given the challenge of finding consensus within this diverse group of nations, the deadlock appears formidable to overcome. In an article late last year, I looked at all the factors that are involved which I am now reposting, because one year on, the issues remain the same.
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