THE United Nations (UN) is one of the main international organizations existing today, being responsible for a series of objectives and attributes, which relate mainly to geopolitics and human development in the world. O UN Security Council it is, in turn, one of the main decision-making spaces of the institution, being considered its most important instance.
The objective of the UN Security Council, at least in official terms, is to fight for measures and actions aimed at international security and the promotion of world peace. Therefore, it has the power to mediate conflicts and pass resolutions that must be followed by all member countries of the United Nations.
Security Council Headquarters, New York. Its members meet at the main round table ¹
In this context, it is important to highlight how this organism is formed. The UN Security Council is composed of fifteen member countries. Five of them are permanent and ten are temporary, so they can be replaced within a maximum period of two years. O
permanent council is composed of some of the main economic and/or political powers of today, namely: United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France and China. With the exception of the last country mentioned, all members were among the winners of World War II, a conflict that preceded the creation of the UN itself in 1945.It is worth remembering that, at UN Security Council meetings, all member countries have the right to voice and vote. However, only permanent members have the right to veto. This means that, for the approval of any resolution, in addition to nine favorable votes, a unanimity among the permanent council, which makes it very difficult to resolve measures considered critical and important.
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For this reason, there are many criticisms of the Security Council and, not by chance, many demands for it to be carried out a complete reform in its structure, speech reproduced by several countries, many of them interested in winning a seat permanent. Brazil, for example, is one of the states that have been fighting the most in this regard in the last decade, acting in humanitarian and UN military personnel to gain support (as in the case of Haiti) and publicly demanding that the current functioning of the organ be revised. Even the official website of Itamaraty (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) openly defends the Council Reform Security Council, under the allegation that he is out of step with the political panorama of the World Order current².
Another among the main criticisms of the Security Council is the fact that it is the only instance of the UN with decision-making power, that is, which must be followed by all signatory countries of the organization. For many, this role should be fulfilled by the general meeting, a UN space in which all its member countries have the right to voice and vote and where resolutions must be passed by a two-thirds majority.
The curious thing is that any type of reform in the UN structure or in the Security Council itself must be approved by the council itself, which includes the aforementioned rules of unanimity among the permanents and a total of nine votes favorable. However, these members are totally against changing this scenario, since the veto power elevates their respective powers in the international geopolitical scope.
¹ Image credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock.com
² See: Itamaraty's official website on the Reform of the Security Council
By Me. Rodolfo Alves Pena
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
PENA, Rodolfo F. Alves. "UN Security Council"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/geografia/conselho-seguranca-onu.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
