History and Structure of the Security Council
History and Structure of the Security Council
The Security Council is the “acting arm” of the United Nations. Their decisions can destabilize oppressive regimes, send accompanying troops for relief aid workers, and provide framework for alternative conflict resolution through diplomatic means. There are 15 member states total in the Council with five countries holding permanent non-rotating seats, These Countries are commonly referred to as “The Permanent 5” and are as follows: China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States. There are also rotating members whose memberships are two years in length. The 10 rotating member states currently in the Security Council are: Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, Croatia, Libya, Vietnam, Austria, Japan, Mexico, Turkey and Uganda.
The Security Council beginnings are deeply intertwined with those of the United Nations itself. Evidence of this can be found in the first article of the UN Charter:
The Purposes of the United Nations are: To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace.
Both entities began with The Declaration of St. James Palace which resulted from a 1941 meeting attended by nine exiled governments that were witnessing World War II play out on their sovereign lands and five countries who were concerned about how the effects of the war on the world. Part of the Declaration read as follows:
The only true basis of enduring peace is the willing cooperation of peace: peoples in a world which, relived of the menace of aggression, all may enjoy economic and social security: “It is
The Security Council is the “acting arm” of the United Nations. Their decisions can destabilize oppressive regimes, send accompanying troops for relief aid workers, and provide framework for alternative conflict resolution through diplomatic means. There are 15 member states total in the Council with five countries holding permanent non-rotating seats, These Countries are commonly referred to as “The Permanent 5” and are as follows: China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States. There are also rotating members whose memberships are two years in length. The 10 rotating member states currently in the Security Council are: Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, Croatia, Libya, Vietnam, Austria, Japan, Mexico, Turkey and Uganda.
The Security Council beginnings are deeply intertwined with those of the United Nations itself. Evidence of this can be found in the first article of the UN Charter:
The Purposes of the United Nations are: To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace.
Both entities began with The Declaration of St. James Palace which resulted from a 1941 meeting attended by nine exiled governments that were witnessing World War II play out on their sovereign lands and five countries who were concerned about how the effects of the war on the world. Part of the Declaration read as follows:
The only true basis of enduring peace is the willing cooperation of peace: peoples in a world which, relived of the menace of aggression, all may enjoy economic and social security: “It is