Can the United Nations Security Council Be Reformed?

Many want reform, but is it possible?

In September, the leaders of the world’s nations convened in New York City for the annual United Nations General Assembly.  The 2022 meeting takes place within a changed international security environment that has seen the return of war to the European continent, following Russia’s invasion of its western neighbour, Ukraine, in early February.

Russia is one of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, the U.N. body charged with the responsibility of ensuring international peace and security. As a permanent member, Russia has a veto over Security Council decisions, an international status enjoyed by only four other nations: the United States, France, Britain, and China.

Ensuring International Peace and Security

The U.N. Charter gives the Security Council primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. The Charter, an international treaty that all U.N. member states have signed, obligates them to settle their disputes by peaceful means.

Member states may bring their disputes before the Security Council. Whenever international peace is threatened, the Council may convene. Its decisions are binding on all U.N. member-states up to and including collective military action to enforce its decisions.

There are fifteen members of the Security Council. Ten of those are non-permanent members who are elected by the U.N. General Assembly by geographical region. They serve for a two-year term. Decisions taken by the Council require nine yes votes. A substantive non-procedural decision cannot be adopted if it has been vetoed by a permanent member. Non-permanent members, which currently include countries as geographically diverse as Ghana, Ireland, and Brazil, do not have a veto within the Council.

The Security Council’s configuration had been shaped by those countries that had emerged victorious following the Second World War. Hence, countries such as Germany and Japan to this day do not have permanent seats. This remains so despite the fact that these two countries are now among the largest contributors to the U.N.’s budget.

Geographically, large parts of the contemporary world are underrepresented or not represented at all on a permanent basis within the Security Council chamber.

The entire continent of Africa still has no permanent seat. There is also no permanent representation from South America and the Caribbean. India, soon to be the world’s most populous country, is also not permanently represented.

While individual countries from these underrepresented regions are regularly elected as non-permanent members, they can only serve intermittently for short periods of time and cannot veto a binding resolution or overcome a veto by a permanent member, even if it affects their own region.

This year, the changed international security environment proved a key point of discussion among many world leaders in New York. Many, including all of the permanent five members of the Security Council, addressed the war in Ukraine in their General Assembly speeches. However, the Security Council is unable to pass a resolution condemning the war or take action to end it, given that Russia has a veto to block such a move.

The Question of Security Council Reform Returns

Not surprisingly, then, the question of reforming the Security Council was also a significant point of discussion. Significantly, two of the permanent five members, the U.S. and France, addressed the issue directly when their leaders spoke to the General Assembly.