UNSC Reforms

Context

India’s candidature for a non-permanent seat at the UNSC for a two-year term (2021 and 2022) was recently endorsed unanimously by the 55-members of Asia-Pacific grouping, including China and Pakistan.

India has been working with other like minded countries for building support among UN members for expansion of UNSC in both categories of its membership (permanent and non-permanent) as well as India’s candidature for permanent membership of expanded security council. This article discusses the UNSC reforms and various issues involved.

Background

The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945 after the Second World War by 51 countries. It is currently made up of 193 Member States. The mission and work of the United Nations are guided by the purposes and principles contained in its founding Charter of 1945.

There are six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) namely UNGA, UNSC, ECOSOC, Trusteeship Council, ICJ and UN secretariat.

UNSC: Structure and Functions

1. Members

• The Security Council consists of ten elected members and five permanent members who have veto power (P-5) – China, the United States, France, the United Kingdom and Russia.
• The ten non-permanent members are elected on a regional basis by the General Assembly,(from five areas- five from Asia and Africa, one from Eastern Europe, two from latin America, two from Western Europe) to serve two-year terms. The body’s presidency rotates among its members on a monthly basis.
• The decisions are taken by the affirmative vote of nine members and a a concurring vote of P-5 who have the power to veto (or say no) any resolution.

2. Role

• Maintaining international peace and security is one of the primary functions of the UNSC.
• To investigate any dispute or situation which might lead to international friction.
• To recommend methods of adjusting such disputes or the terms of the settlement.
• To formulate plans for the establishment of a system to regulate armaments.

3. Powers

• It is the only UN body with the authority to issue binding resolutions to member states.
• It determines the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression and recommends what action should be taken.
• It has the power to call on Members to apply economic sanctions and other measures not involving the use of force to prevent or stop aggression.
• It can suspend economic and diplomatic relations between countries, impose blockades, and can authorize collective military action.

Need for UNSC Reforms

The United Nations Security Council has emerged as the key arena and barometer for evaluating the promise and progress of accommodating new, rising powers in the international system.

1. Changing Geopolitics

• The current composition of UNSC reflects the geopolitical situation of the post-World War II bi-polar world.
• It does not represents the changes in the international system and current multi-polar world where developing nations play a significant role in shaping international affairs.
• For instance, both Africa and Latin America lack a permanent seat on the Council, while Europe is over represented (with Uk and France among the P-5) and Asia and Carribean is underrepresented.
• Furthermore, the subsidiary bodies of the Council do not include UN members unless they are members of the Council at the time, leaving them out of the decision making process.

2. Lack of Transparency

• There is a lack of transparency in the working methods of the UNSC as the information regarding the decisions taken is not made public.
• There is also a lack of accountability of the working methods of P-5 members. They often use veto power in an arbitrary manner.
• Closed-door meetings of the UNSC have become common. The proceedings of such meetings are not covered by the media and exact records are not released.
• The Council’s influential Presidency changes every month. However, the real power lies with the Permanent-5 members (P-5).

3. Monopoly of P-5

• The P-5 members take all important decisions such as sending peacekeeping forces in conflict situations.
• But the areas involving such conflicts such as Africa, do not have representation as permanent members and therefore they are not consulted.
• There is a gross misuse of veto power by the P-5 resulting in an imbalance of influence between the permanent and non-permanent members of the council.
• Veto power is used by the permanent members against possible adverse resolutions in the Security Council in response to unilateral actions.
• For instance, Russia has used its veto power 71 times to defend itself against the resolution probing the MH17 disaster in Ukraine. It also vetoed a Security Council resolution against annexation of Crimea in March 2014.

4. Emergence of Unconventional Security Threats

• UNSC reforms are imperative to fight emerging unconventional security threats such as terrorism, cybercrime, refugee crisis, climate change, unilateralism etc.
• These challenges pose new threats to global peace and security.
• The structure of the UNSC does not have an effective mechanism to deal with such challenges due to its outdated structure. For example, it failed to effectively resolve crises in Syria, Afghanistan and Yemen.

5. Inefficiency in maintaining International Peace

• The geopolitical rivalry among the permanent members has prevented the UNSC from coming up with effective mechanisms to deal with global crises. Syria is a case in point.
• It also failed to take effective actions in the aftermath of the Somalia civil war in 1991, the Bosnia war between 1992-95 and the genocide in Rwanda (1994).

6. Undermined Status of the UN

• Without reforms in the UNSC, there is a risk of the UN being sidelined by other regional organizations. For example, SCO, NATO, BIMSTEC etc.

India’s claim to UNSC

1. Historic association with the UN: India was among the founding members of the UN and has been temporary member of the UNSC for seven terms.

2. Sizeable demography and economy: India asserts its claim to a permanent seat at the UNSC because of multiple factors such as:

• India is the largest democracy with a large demography, with more than half of its population under the age of 30.
• India’s growing economic stature (India is the seventh largest the economy in the world, with its GDP at $2.72 trillion)
• India has the second-largest standing army.

3. Significant contributions to the UN

• India is the largest cumulative contributor to the UN Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO).
• More than 200,000 Indians have served in 49 of the 71 peacekeeping missions established around the world since 1948.
• India is also among the highest financial contributors to the UN, with the country making regular donations to several UN organs like the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF), UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency).

4. Protection of National Interest

• Another reason for India’s quest for a permanent seat at the UNSC is to increase its diplomatic clout, which it can use to defend its national interest.
• For example, India can use its diplomatic heft to set a regional narrative in Indo-Pacific.

5. India’s rise as a Global Power

• India’s entry into three of the world’s four major export control regimes, such as the Wassenaar Arrangement, the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and the Australia Group (with the exception of Nuclear Suppliers Group) is evidence of its rising global status.
• A permanent seat at the UNSC will help the Indian bid for NSG membership which can provide access to advanced nuclear technology.
• Recently India announced one billion dollar for the development of Russia’s Far East which signifies its rising stature.
• The launch of an anti-satellite missile (A-SAT) has put India into an elite space club as only US, Russia and China have this technology.

6. Rising Geopolitical Stature

• The geopolitical realities are changing with an enhanced focus on the Indo-Pacific region which is under represented.
• India’s permanent membership assumes significance due to its geostrategic location in Indian ocean to fulfil its role as a net security provider.
• Another reason is the sheer prestige associated with permanent membership of a multilateral forum.

7. Leadership of Third World

• India being the leader of NAM requires a permanent member status in UNSC to raise the concerns of third world countries.
• Right from its inception Non-Alignment Movement ((NAM) has been in favour of UNSC reforms.
• Even at the 17th NAM summit in Venezuela the demand for UNSC reforms was echoed

Obstacles in UNSC Reforms

1.Amendment of the UN Charter: Any reform of the UNSC would require an amendment to the UN Charter,which requires a two-third majority in the General Assembly and two-third majority in the Security Council, including the concurrence of P-5, which is difficult to achieve.

2. Resistance from P-5: There is a divide among the P-5 nations on the extent of UNSC reforms due to their reluctance to share the veto power with the new members.

3. Absence of Consensus: There is an absence of consensus among the countries on complex issues which hampers the initiation of reforms. These include the size of expansion in the permanent and non-permanent categories, regional distribution of seats etc.

4. Opposition from other countries

• Because of constraints in Indo-China relations, there is a chance of China vetoing the decision to include India as a permanent member.
• There is contestation among countries on India’s permanent membership status because Asia is already represented by China, while African and Latin American countries do not have representation at all as permanent members.
• Pakistan along with the Uniting for Consensus (UFC) countries (comprising countries like South Korea,Italy, Mexico, Egypt, etc) strongly oppose India’s inclusion as a permanent member as this would mean reinforcing inappropriate hierarchies in the international order.

Way Forward

1. Extension of membership to regional groups: Membership could be extended to relevant regional bodies instead of individual countries, such as the European Union, the African Union, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, the Association of South-East Asian, etc.

2. Transparency and Accountability

• The working methods of the Council should be improved through institutionalizing the cooperation of the Council with other organs of the UN along with strengthening the consultation process.
• The Kofi Annan plan talked about a new concept called as indicative voting wherein there would be an informal vote on a given issue without Veto and then again a formal vote in the way it is done now. It can be taken into consideration for making the P-5 more accountable

3. Intermediate Reforms

• The G-4 (which includes Japan, Germany, Brazil and India and who support each others bid for permanent membership) proposal for the creation of new temporary category of seats with longer terms than the current two-year term can be a welcome step to end the stalemate regarding reforms.
• The proposal has also been supported by France and the UK.
• This can also be helpful in determining whether increasing permanent seats would be effective or detrimental.

4. Representation based on contribution

• Countries that contribute more financially and militarily should be given more representation and enhanced role in decision-making.
• For example, after the United States, Germany and Japan are the largest financial contributors to the U.N.-assessed budget but are not represented accordingly.

5. Focus on non-permanent membership.

• For any new country to become a permanent member requires the consent of P-5. It is unlikely that all the P-5 members will concede to this demand given the significance of veto power.
• Therefore, it may be more viable to focus on reforming the expansion and tenures of the non-permanent members to make the body as a whole, more democratic.

6. Uniting for Peace Resolution

• Resolution 377 A of the UNGA can be taken into consideration for deciding the issue of UNSC reforms.
• It states that the General Assembly can consider the matter and issue recommendations, if in any case the UNSC due to lack of unanimity amongst its P-5 members fails to act as required to maintain international peace and security.