Reform of the United Nations Security Council

Despite a common agreement amongst member states, regional groups and academics on the need for reform, its feasibility is compromised by the difficulty to find an approach that would please all parties.

In history, examples are found in the Security Council's inaction in the establishment of effective preventative measures and defensive peacekeeping actions during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

[5] In more recent time, the Security Council has failed to mediate the Russo-Ukrainian war, as draft resolutions on the conflict have been consistently vetoed by Russia.

For example, Indian scholar of diplomacy Rejaul Karim Laskar argues, "for the continued existence and relevance of the UN, it is necessary to ensure that it represents as nearly as possible the reality of the power equation of the twenty-first century world".

The United Kingdom and France essentially supported the G4 position, with the expansion of permanent and non-permanent members and the accession of Germany, Brazil, India, and Japan to permanent-member status, as well as more African countries on the council.

Crucial to the "timeline perspective" is the scheduling of a mandatory review conference—a forum for discussing changes to any reforms achieved in the near-term, and for revisiting negotiables that cannot be agreed upon now.

One possible way to resolve the problem would be to add at least four Asian seats: one permanent seat for India, one shared by Japan and South Korea (perhaps in a two-year, one-year rotation), one for the ASEAN countries (representing the group as a single constituency), and a fourth rotating among the other Asian countries.On 21 March 2005, the then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called on the UN to reach a consensus on expanding the council to 24 members, in a plan referred to as "In Larger Freedom".

[26][27] The U.N. Security Council reform, being debated since two decades is too long overdue and the necessary expansion must be made considering how much the world has changed.One proposed change is to admit more permanent members.

[29] This sort of reform has traditionally been opposed by the Uniting for Consensus group, which is composed primarily of nations who are regional rivals and economic competitors of the G4.

It proposes that membership and veto power be shifted from individual states to sovereignty-pooling organizations, with the European Union (EU) serving as a prime example.

It is one of only five countries that ranks among the top ten globally in terms of physical size, population, and GDP (the others being fellow G4 member India, together with China, Russia and the United States).

[46] Other countries that advocate permanent Brazilian membership of the UNSC include Australia,[47] Chile,[48] Finland,[49] Guatemala,[50] Indonesia, the Philippines,[51] Slovenia,[52] South Africa,[53] and Vietnam.

In July 2011, Merkel's trip to Kenya, Angola, and Nigeria was thought to be motivated, in part, by the goal of seeking support from African countries for Germany's bid for a permanent seat on the Security Council.

[62] India, which joined the U.N. in 1945 (during the British Raj), two years before independence in 1947, is the second-largest and one of the largest constant contributors of troops to the United Nations peacekeeping missions.

[63] Foreign Policy magazine states that, "India's international identity has long been shaped by its role in U.N. peacekeeping, with more than 100,000 Indian troops having served in U.N. missions during the past 50 years.

[72] On 15 April 2011, China officially expressed its support for an increased Indian role at the United Nations, without explicitly endorsing India's Security Council ambitions.

While U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, speaking at Sophia University in Tokyo, said, "Japan has earned its honorable place among the nations of the world by its own effort and its own character.

Resolutions addressing more current problems, such as the conflict between Israel and Palestine or Iran's suspected development of nuclear weapons, are also heavily influenced by the veto, whether its actual use or the threat of its use.

Therefore, reform and restructuring of the United Nations system can alone provide a crucial link in an expanding chain of efforts to refashion international structures, imbuing them with a greater degree of participatory decision-making, so as to make them more representative of contemporary realities.

According to a formal statement by Foreign secretary of India Harsh Vardhan Shringla at UNSC high-level meeting on “Maintenance of international peace and security: upholding multilateralism and the United Nations-centered international system”:[204] At the core of India’s call for reformed multilateralism, lies the reform of the UN Security Council, reflective of the contemporary realities of today.

According to a formal statement by Toshimitsu Motegi, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, at the High-level Meeting to Commemorate the Seventy-fifth Anniversary of the United Nations:[205]For a stronger UN, Security Council reform cannot wait any longer.

Japan is fully prepared to fulfill such responsibilities as a permanent member of the Security Council and contribute to ensuring peace and stability of the world.

Thus Lithuania supports substantial reform for the better, equitable representation in both categories, permanent or non-permanent, through the inclusion of Germany and Japan, as well as certain other leading countries from other regions.

The General Assembly should then back the decision with a simple majority.As stated by former Prime Minister of Portugal José Sócrates:[208] The 15-member Security Council must be enlarged so that it is more representative, transparent and efficient.

In our view it is illogical that countries like Brazil or India that have today an irreplaceable economic and political role are still not permanent members of the Security Council.

The time has come to speed up the search for a compromise formula of its expansion and increased efficiency of its work.As stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov at the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi:[210] I would say the Security Council's main shortcoming is the under-representation of developing countries.

Their global influence should be taken into account, and their weight in decision-making on key international issues must increase.According to a formal statement by South Africa's International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane speaking in the South African parliament in Cape Town: The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) urgently requires reform to rectify inequitable power relations.

We have to look, of course, at the overall geographic balance of the Council, but effectiveness remains the benchmark for any reform.According to a formal statement by US President Barack Obama in an address to a Joint Session of the Indian Parliament: We salute India's long history as a leading contributor to United Nations peacekeeping missions.

The United Nations exists to fulfill its founding ideals of preserving peace and security, promoting global cooperation, and advancing human rights.

And so we look forward to working with India—and other nations that aspire to Security Council membership—to ensure that the Security Council is effective; that resolutions are implemented, that sanctions are enforced; that we strengthen the international norms which recognize the rights and responsibilities of all nations and all individuals.In 2022, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, ambassador to the UN, pledged that the United States would push to reform the UNSC so that it would "better reflect the current global realities and incorporate more geographically diverse perspectives.