United Nations General Assembly: Security Council and Reform
Critically assess the case for reform to the permanent membership of the UN Security Council.
“Chief responsibility for the maintenance of peace and security lies with the Security Council. It is therefore essential to its legitimacy that its membership reflect the state of the world.” French President Chirac’s address to the United Nations General Assembly.
The United Nations has had a lot to contest with since it came in to play in 1945 after the five permanent members agreed to set this organisation up in San Francisco. The United Nations has a number of bodies that deal with world affairs; however this essay will focus on the Security Council which will explore whether the permanent members and their authority in the United Nations should be reformed.
This essay will also focus on the role of the Security Council and what effect it has on current affairs across the globe. There are just fewer than 200 members in the United Nations and these numbers of members alone state the size of the organisation. The United Nations Security Council has five permanent members that have higher authority over non-permanent members. Academics have argued that the Security Council need to be reformed to set an example of democracy through the organisation.
The five permanent members of the United Nations are the United States, United Kingdom, China, Russia (formerly USSR) and France. These members have been involved in the United Nations since its inauguration in 1945. However, there has been a lot of discussion whether to pass in more permanent members or to change the perpetual members after a time period. As we know now, there are ten non-permanent associates of the United Nations Security Council which make fifteen members of the Security Council and the members of the United Nations take turns in a rotating cycle. But the discussion for this essay is to see whether to change the permanent members (Hanhimaki 2008:51). Should we
“Chief responsibility for the maintenance of peace and security lies with the Security Council. It is therefore essential to its legitimacy that its membership reflect the state of the world.” French President Chirac’s address to the United Nations General Assembly.
The United Nations has had a lot to contest with since it came in to play in 1945 after the five permanent members agreed to set this organisation up in San Francisco. The United Nations has a number of bodies that deal with world affairs; however this essay will focus on the Security Council which will explore whether the permanent members and their authority in the United Nations should be reformed.
This essay will also focus on the role of the Security Council and what effect it has on current affairs across the globe. There are just fewer than 200 members in the United Nations and these numbers of members alone state the size of the organisation. The United Nations Security Council has five permanent members that have higher authority over non-permanent members. Academics have argued that the Security Council need to be reformed to set an example of democracy through the organisation.
The five permanent members of the United Nations are the United States, United Kingdom, China, Russia (formerly USSR) and France. These members have been involved in the United Nations since its inauguration in 1945. However, there has been a lot of discussion whether to pass in more permanent members or to change the perpetual members after a time period. As we know now, there are ten non-permanent associates of the United Nations Security Council which make fifteen members of the Security Council and the members of the United Nations take turns in a rotating cycle. But the discussion for this essay is to see whether to change the permanent members (Hanhimaki 2008:51). Should we
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