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New bid but little hope to reform UN Security Council
UNITED NATIONS, United States, Sept 24, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – A flurry of
world leaders have appealed again to the United Nations to reform the
Security Council, reviving a bid launched 15 years ago.
But chances of transforming the world’s body most powerful institution are
seen as close to zero by most experts, who see little incentive from today’s
Permanent Five to let others in.
Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States hold veto-wielding
permanent seats at the Security Council, an arrangement that reflects the
geopolitical dynamics at the time of the UN’s creation in the aftermath of
World War II.
A coalition of four nations — Brazil, Germany, India and Japan — on
Wednesday renewed its campaign for inclusion.
Adding the “G4” would ensure that the Security Council incorporate
Europe’s biggest economy (Germany), the world’s second largest developed
economy and major UN contributor (Japan), the world’s second most populous
nation (India) and the most populous nation in Latin America (Brazil).
“The world of today is very different from what it was when the United
Nations was created 75 years ago,” their four foreign ministers said in a
joint statement after talks by videoconference on the sidelines of the UN
General Assembly, held virtually this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Only if we manage to reform the Security Council will we stop it from
becoming obsolete,” they said.
– Who want to lose power? –
But to include more nations, the Permanent Five would dilute their own
status.
The chances of Security Council reform “are next to none,” said Andrew
Bacevich, professor emeritus of international relations and history at Boston
University.
“And the reason is that the reform proposal, which in many respects makes
great sense, calls upon the Permanent Five countries to lose their power, he
said.
“I can’t imagine why any of them would find that prospect agreeable.”
The United States has backed a seat for close ally Japan, and former
president Barack Obama on a visit to India announced support for New Delhi’s
bid.
But the United States is hardly pressing for an expansion, and showed
hesitation in 2005 amid tensions with Germany over the Iraq invasion.
With Britain’s exit from the European Union, France is the only EU nation
with a Security Council veto.
But France officially backs the bid by the four nations including Germany,
as well as an expanded African presence, and unlike Russia, the United States
and China seeks to limit the use of the veto to questions involving mass
atrocities.
– ‘Best reflection’ –
Leaders from around the world called at the UN General Assembly for a more
representative Security Council.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said that Africa needed to be
better represented in order “to collectively resolve some of the world’s most
protracted conflicts.”
In 2005, African nations adopted a common platform to seek two permanent
seats on the Security Council but discussions have failed to determine which
countries those would be.
Angolan President Joao Lourenco called for a Security Council “that is the
best reflection of peoples, nations and continents,” while President Felix
Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo called for a body that is
“more transparent, more democratic and more representative.”
President Carlos Alvarado of Costa Rica, a nation with no standing army,
said that the top UN body should be rechristened the “Human Security
Council,” deploring how the world’s major arms exporters were represented.
The (Human) Security Council must be “capable of overcoming the major
internal divisions to work together with one sole voice,” he said.
Chilean President Sebastian Pinera similarly said that the Security
Council “is no longer responding to the needs and challenges of our time.”
“We must be the architects of our new common home,” Argentine President
Alberto Fernandez said. “We need a UN 4.0.”
BSS/AFP/RY/09:38hrs