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With an aim to reform the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), world leaders have adopted a ‘Pact for the Future’. However, it seems like an attempt to hide the constant failures of the UN’s important body. According to the UN charter, the UNSC has been entrusted with the responsibility of preventing and resolving wars or inter-state conflicts after the world was reduced to rubble following the Second World War. But the body has failed miserably in its role as a peacemaker in almost every conflict since its inception. It appears to be toothless amid the ongoing two full-fledged wars in Eastern Europe and West Asia. As questions are being raised about the effectiveness of the UNSC, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the ‘Pact for the Future’ to make the council ‘more representative, transparent, effective and accountable’.
The idea of making the UNSC ‘more representative’ is a welcomed move but it may never be able to deliver the goods till the veto power of five permanent members of the council is completely removed, as it has stalled the implementations of many important UNSC resolutions on many occasions. Armed with the veto power, these five permanent nations have more or less adopted partisan attitudes at the cost of global peace. It may sound strange but the fact remains that since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, veto power has been used 17 times in the UNSC by the permanent members to suit their purposes, and as a result, peace still eludes the trouble-torn region. So, until this power is removed or restricted only to some few specific issues, the council will not be able to play the role of an influential peacemaker.
At present, the UNSC has five permanent members with veto powers and 10 non-permanent members on a rotational basis without veto power. This is utterly discriminatory as the permanent members have kept all the powers to themselves, making a mockery of democratic norms, and more importantly the principle of equality. For a long time, demands to reform the council have gone unheeded as the permanent five were not willing to share power with other nations to maintain their hegemony over the world. Some of these permanent members have also been accused of using conflicts to indulge in arms trade. This is why even if the UNSC is being made more representative, it won’t be powerful enough to deal with conflict situation effectively. While there are indications that India, Brazil, Germany and Japan may get permanent membership of the council sooner than later, these countries will do well to demand repealing of the veto power to allow the council to function democratically. Otherwise, all the efforts of the new permanent members to restore peace will come to a naught as the erstwhile five permanent members could put their national interests ahead of global interests.