The United Nations Security Council

Under the UN Charter, the Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security and is argued to have power to intervene in the most serious issues which disrupt world order.

The United Nations was to be a place where there was peace between the countries, a place where they can dispute their differences, a place to support each other and benefit from the allies a country made by being in the United Nations. It was “designed to make possible lasting freedom and independence for all its members” (Document B). Not long after it was founded, it started falling apart. People had different idea of how it should have been ran but the people who got their way was the bigger and stronger countries. They came to an agreement that the bigger countries—the United States, Soviet Union, Great Britain, France, and China—would have veto power and the other countries that were a part of it would take smaller roles in the decisions

The goal of the United Nations, when formed was to “maintain international peace and security and commit to economic and social development. (Fomerand, Jacques)” As one

The process of reforming the United Nations (UN) has been a highly debatable issue among the international community. Since the initial signing of the UN Charter in 1945, the world has changed dramatically as the UN is trying to regulate a forum that assesses and deals with global issues while also struggling to unite all 193 member states of the UN when some states have been seen to have conflicting ideas and personal agendas (Teng, 2003, pp. 2-3). This essay is targeted to highlight what I feel are the most pressing arguments for UN reform amongst the international community. This will be done by highlighting the problems and ongoing issues surrounding the lack of representation and P5 power of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC),

Over the last decade, the idea of the Security Council going under reform has caused much of a debate. Academics have been questioning whether the Security Council has been fulfilling its duties and obligations under Article 24 of the Charter of the United Nations . Another question, which arises frequently, is whether it is accountable and legitimate. The combinations of these effectively show whether the Security Council is fit for purpose in the 21st Century.

Even though, the original thought for the United Nations was to be a guarantee for the World’s peace, their role in today’s world seems to have changed. It is hard to believe that their founders had today’s United Nations on mind when discussed their creation sixty years ago.

The time has come to recognize the U.N. for the anti-American, anti-freedom organization that it has become. The time has come for us to cut off all financial help, withdraw as a member, and ask the U.N. to find a headquarters location outside the United States that is more in keeping with the philosophy of the majority of voting members, someplace like Moscow or Peking (Rousos, par. 30).

The formation of the United Nations in 1945 was marked by an international outcry to ‘never again’ idly bear witness to the genocidal atrocities capable of man, as so harshly revealed in the nature of the Holocaust. In doing so, all member states actively sought to facilitate discussion in the United Nations as a world forum, in order to achieve both international and intra-national security. While the United Nations has achieved various successes in the international community, the international entity and its’ member states are subject to various legal and moral flaws, weakening response to conflicts in the contemporary era of international relations. These failures are exemplified tragically in the response to the Rwandan genocide in

I will shed the light on the Security Council which is the keystone of the United Nations system of collective security, and its role in maintaining international peace and security by settling disputes pacifically under chapter VI of the UN Charter and by taking action regarding threats, breaches, and acts of aggression under chapter VII. I will then discuss the several options that Nation states had resorted to in the past to intervene in order to protect civilians. And I will finally highlight the notion of the responsibility to protect which emerged in 2001 and its implication on populations under

The United Nations is one institute of global governance which was established on the 24th of October 1951 with the aim of keeping peace throughout the world, developing friendly relations between nations and working with member states to help people "live better lives" by eliminating poverty, disease and illiteracy in the world and encouraging respect for each other's rights and freedoms. The UN was set up to reflect the power structures that emerged out of the second world war, hence the permanent members of the security council are the USA, UK, Russia, France and China. Each of these nations has power of veto over the decisions of the Security Council and in recent years this has greatly reduced the power of the UN to fulfill its own

“ Here is a task truly of, by and for the world, one that should rally nations. The nature of this task however, must be clearly understood; only then can suitable means for accomplishing it be formulated, only then can the role that the United Nations could and should play be appreciated” ( Wilcox/Haviland, 29). There are many international organizations that have been talked about throughout this semester. One of the most important ones is The United Nations. The United Nations was established October 24, 1945, and has since then been impacting the country. The United Nations main purpose according to the lecture notes is “ to provide a global additional structure through which states can sometimes settle conflicts with less reliance on the use of force , for whole purpose of the United Nations is to provide the globe a forum by which countries may settle disputes through this forum peacefully as opposed to relying on a force which has been the case historically” ( Kopalyan, Module 8). Thus meaning The United Nations was set up to handle problems peacefully rather than going to war to try and solve problems. “Powerful economic as well as political forces are at work to bring about a growing integration of the world community, and the United Nations and its related agencies are uniquely fitted to assist in the task” (Wilcox/Haviland,45). This was some of the reason that the United Nations was created.

The UN was formed by the victors of World War 2 and so at that time it was fitting that those most powerful countries be granted special powers in the organisation. Now in the present day, there has been a growth in powerful states with just as much influence. It has been contested by many that the UN Security Council reflects and outdated past. With a huge change concerning the power politics of states, very little has been done to reflect this change in the Security Council (Global Policy Forum, 2016). For the longest time now, debates concerning Security Council reform have been on-going however with no possible agreement in sight. I stand with the argument that reform is necessary and should indeed take place. Throughout the rest of my essay, I am going to lay down major criticisms towards the Security Council that has called for its reform. Following that I will provide the different kinds of proposals that have been put forward and taken up the UN. Along with arguments for Security Council reform, comes major obstacles and towards the end of this paper I will discuss the challenges faced by the issue of reform altogether.

Japan firmly believes we need to take action to reform the Security Council before it loses its legitimacy and efficiency as an essential tool for the maintenance of peace and security. Japan is ready to discuss, with a flexible and realistic viewpoint, different options, which will lead the way for the expansion in both permanent and non-permanent categories. Japan is working proactively to increase both the permanent and non-permanent membership of the council. Japan is the second largest contributor to the UN, behind the United States and is the world's largest donor of official development assistance. Japan's commitment to the United Nations, supported by its national strength should allow the nation to assume greater global responsibility through the efforts of the Security Council.

One of the major areas of reform must be the Security Council, which has deviated from reflecting the real state of the world and therefore is no longer effectively responsible for the peace and security of the world. Unless the UN can reform in this and other ways outlined by SG Kofi Annan, it will never achieve the lofty goals envisioned by the framers of its Charter, the US will finally forsake it because it will be unable to work in the US’s national interest, and it will sink into the obscurity of history.

First, the Theory of UN Collective Security briefly summarizes why the UN was established after WWII and how it has served the global community as a method to avoid war and conflict through collective security. Collective security is introduced as a principle that allows nation-states to be interconnected in a way that no only prevents war and conflict, but also provides methods that can be