The United Nations was established in 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and the Statute of the International Court of Justice. A total of 51 nations signed the Charter by October 1945 and the United Nations was thus created. It was a response to the horrors of the Second World War which the League of Nations, established after World War I (which was known then as The Great War), had failed to prevent. Article 1 of the United Nations Charter states that the purposes of the United Nations are mainly four:
- To maintain international peace and security
- To develop friendly relations amongst nations
- To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems
- To be a centre for harmonising the actions of nations
Of the above, the first is arguably the most important of all purposes, with the remaining three being a means to achieving the first. The body responsible for maintaining international peace and security is the Security Council, which is composed of five permanent members and another ten rotating temporary members elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly, making it a total of fifteen members.
The five permanent members are China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States, in other words the main victors of World War II, and they each have a right to veto any proposals and votes by the Security Council. They all possess nuclear weapons and advanced delivery capabilities, and their armies are the mightiest on the planet.
However, over the decades numerous crises and conflicts have tested this body threatening it with paralysis, and calls for reform are constant, be them from NGOs, civil society, think tanks, or governments. As reflected in this page from Global Policy Forum, an independent organisation that monitors the United Nations and scrutinises global policymaking:
“The Security Council’s membership and working methods reflect a bygone era. Though geopolitics have changed drastically, the Council has changed relatively little since 1945, when wartime victors crafted a Charter in their interest and awarded “permanent” veto-wielding Council seats for themselves.”
This is how geopolitics have changed since 1945:
- In addition to the five permanent members listed above, India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea now possess nuclear weapons and programmes
- According to the World Economic Forum, Germany and Japan, the two main defeated nations of World War II, constitute the third and fourth largest economies in the world, while India is fast closing the gap with France and the UK
- A study by PwC entitled ‘The World in 2050’ predicts that Emerging markets (E7) could grow around twice as fast as advanced economies (G7) on average by 2050
- PwC also predicts that six of the seven largest economies are projected to be emerging economies by 2050, led by China (1st), India (2nd) and Indonesia (4th). By then, the US could fall to the third place, while the UK, Japan and Germany will are likely to fall to the bottom of the top 10 largest economies, with France not even featuring within the top 10.
The case for reform is increasingly more acute, yet the permanent members refuse to reform the current system. This is not surprising for which nation would want to relinquish such enormous power? Yet history tells us that failing to reform increases the risk of policy paralysis and ultimately war, which is precisely what the Security Council is supposed to prevent.
As per existing proposals to reform, many have been put forward over the decades and the Global Policy Forum contains a comprehensive list with details of these. Enlargement of the permanent members is largely considered not the best route, with regional representation and the removal of veto powers and other privileges usually favoured in pro of a more democratic council. International Portal does not seek to come up with its own proposal, instead the aim is to put the emphasis on the need for reform.
