The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is the premier global body for maintaining international peace and security. As the United Nations’ principle crisis-management organ, it regularly assesses threats to international security and has traditionally aimed to address issues relating to civil war, natural disasters, arms control and terrorism. However, its exclusive membership structure and veto capabilities have ensured that power is concentrated in the hands of few member states.
When formed at the end of the Cold War, the Security Council was designed to represent the international order of power of that time. In the aftermath of World War II, the five permanent (and nuclear) members–the United States, France, Russia, China and the United Kingdom–were seen as the ‘providers’ of security, while other members were ‘consumers.’ The delegation of veto power to the permanent five (P5) is a manifestation of this understanding of international power dynamics, and one that has been repeatedly questioned for its shortcomings in effectively addressing global issues in a rapidly changing geostrategic environment.
Seventy-four years later, new and more complex challenges have emerged, as conventional threats are often linked to unique issues with varying levels of precedence, such as climate change, food and economic insecurity, human rights violations, and gender-based violence and discrimination. In an evolving and unpredictable world, the veto serves as an effective safeguard for the interests of the P5, while also allowing them an avenue for influencing the international policy agenda or for limiting the Council’s actions based on their national objectives. This then begs the question– should a select group of states be given such disproportionate power?
Since its conception, the number of UN member states has increased from 51 in 1945 to 193 today, and the world population has more than doubled to 7.7 billion. The original structure of the UNSC, however, has remained the same, with a modest increase in total members from 11 to 15 in 1963, and no change in the number of permanent members. Article 27 (3) of the Charter establishes that all substantive decisions of the Council must be made with “the concurring votes of the permanent members”, and they have not shied away from using the veto to make their positions known. In total, since February 1946, the veto has been recorded 292 times. Overall, USSR/Russia has cast a total of 142, almost half of all vetoes. Since 1970, the United States has used it more than any other permanent member, most frequently blocking resolutions it has deemed detrimental to Israeli interests.
In recent years, the Syrian Crisis has been particularly challenging for the Security Council, with deep political divisions among the membership inhibiting its efforts to stabilize the region. Since 2011, Russia has used the veto to block 14 UN resolutions relating to the Syria conflict, while China has vetoed 7–the last one vetoed as recently as last month. Multiple resolutions addressed ceasefire implementation in volatile areas and creating safe spaces to deliver humanitarian assistance to affected populations. A six-year-long UN operation providing aid across the Syrian border to millions of people will expire tonight if the Security Council cannot reach a compromise and extend its authorization. Russia insists on having only two border crossings open (from Turkey), and it is unclear whether it will accept a third from Iraq. This decision affects more than 3 million Syrian civilians, who are completely dependent on cross-border aid.
The veto also impacts the work of the Council in ways that contradict its intended purpose. In April 2018, under a French-German joint presidency of the Council, the United States threatened to veto a UN resolution on combatting the use of rape as a weapon of war. Against the backdrop of the Trump administration’s hardline policies on sexual and reproductive healthcare, the United States refused to accept any UN motions containing language which could imply support for abortions, even those agreed upon years earlier. Succumbing to the pressure, the UNSC settled for a significantly weaker iteration of the resolution, watering down the language to exclude all reference to sexual and reproductive health services for victims of rape. With added opposition from Russia and China, the resolution also failed to press for the establishment of a formal mechanism to monitor and report atrocities, which is currently lacking.
Such incidents highlight the magnitude of unequal power distribution within the Council. The call for reform is not new, and has been on the Council’s agenda for almost two decades. The veto is the most controversial mechanism of the Security Council, and members–both permanent and otherwise–have made calls for more ‘cautious’ use of the veto. As recently as 2018, the President of the General Assembly María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés stressed the importance of reforming the council to reflect new political realities, and to improve on representation weaknesses to increase its legitimacy and effectiveness. It has long been accepted that regions that constitute a majority of the world’s population, namely Asia and Africa, are severely underrepresented in the Council. However, despite recognition of its flaws, there is no consensus on what the best way forward could be. If the current undertakings of the Council are any indication of how the reform process will unfold, changes are likely to be slow and incremental.
At a time when international norms and frameworks are diminishing in importance, the envisioned function of the UNSC should be to adapt to evolving geopolitical structures and contexts. However, in its current form, the UNSC does not offer meaningful representation for those most affected by conflict and crises. As long as the council clings to this outdated structure, it will remain vulnerable to the political whims of five historically more prosperous and powerful nations, at the expense of civilians in less stable, underrepresented countries.
Reference List
Besheer, Margaret. (2019) Russia, China Block UN Humanitarian Resolution on Syria’s Idlib. VOA News. Retrieved from: https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/russia-china-block-un-humanitarian-resolution-syrias-idlib
Borger, Julian. (2019) US threatens to veto UN resolution on rape as weapon of war, officials say. The Guardian. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/22/us-un-resolution-rape-weapon-of-war-veto
Bosco, David. (2013) France’s Plan to Fix the Veto. Foreign Policy. Retrieved from: https://foreignpolicy.com/2013/10/04/frances-plan-to-fix-the-veto/
Corell, Hans. (2014) The Mandate of The United Nations Security Council in a Changing World. Koninklijke Brill Nv, Leiden. DOI 10.1163/9789004274587_004. Retrieved from: http://www.havc.se/res/SelectedMaterial/20142224ilperceptionsofsecurity.pdf
Lättilä, Ville. (2019) A New Proposal for UN Security Council Reform. Oxford Research Group. Retrieved from: https://www.oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk/blog/a-new-proposal-for-un-security-council-reform
Nadin, Peter (2014). United Nations Security Council 101. United Nations University. Retrieved from: https://ourworld.unu.edu/en/united-nations-security-council-101
Nichols, Michelle. (2019) Syria cross-border aid to end Friday if U.N. Security Council fails to break deadlock. Reuters. Retrieved from: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-security-un/syria-cross-border-aid-to-end-friday-if-un-security-council-fails-to-break-deadlock-idUSKBN1Z82L9
Teixieira, Pascal. (2003) The Security Council at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century: To What Extent Is It Willing and Able to Maintain International Peace and Security? UNIDIR. Retrieved from: https://www.unidir.org/files/publications/pdfs/the-security-council-at-the-dawn-of-the-twenty-first-century-to-what-extent-is-it-willing-and-able-to-maintain-international-peace-and-security-en-545.pdf
The UN Security Council. (2018). Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved from: https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/un-security-council
The Veto. (2015) Security Council Report. Retrieved from: https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/research_report_3_the_veto_2015.pdf
Turak, Natasha. (2018) US blocks United Nations call for independent probe into Gaza deaths. CNBC News. Retrieved from: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/15/u-s-blocks-united-nations-call-for-independent-probe-into-gaza-deaths.html
Image Source: UN News