What are some of the faults of the United Nations Security Council?

Question

Do the permanent 5 undermine the UN organsiation as a whole?

Answer 1

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Paradoxically, having the P-5 that we do does indeed undermine the UN organization as a whole, but from a realist perspective it is highly unlikely that another structure would be allowed, since any change to the Security Council rules would require the consent of the P-5. These countries are essentially the winners of World War Two, and many argue that this set-up is outdated and obsolete, with obvious candidates for permanent membership (and perhaps veto rights, though many argue that the veto should be abolished) being Japan, Germany, India, Pakistan, Brazil, Mexico, Egypt, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Argentina.

The fact that the P-5 have a veto has certainly undermined the UN's capacity to act on many issues (Bosnia, Rwanda, etc.), but again, a realist would point out that any Security Council arrangement deviating too much from the balance of power in the world (five nuclear-armed great powers) would be unsustainable and dangerous.

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Answer 2

Sure the UN security council lacks some teeth in some matters. We have to go back to looking at why the UN security council was created and who are the permanent members. We are talking about a balance of power. The 5 big boys sitting at the table .. well they are always looking over their shoulders at what the other is doing. They each have alliances with members who are not at the table. They all have different political and economic and military ideologies. So if anything, the US security council is like a containment zone. It allows them to talk, talk and more talk. When one member decides to go against the others, they are risking the wrath of the other 4 plus the members of their alliance.

Remember again that the US relies on its member nations to carry out its policies, sanctions, decision, etc ... So the effectiveness of the overall UN rests with the conviction and execution of its member nations. Rest assured that if there were no UN, ther would have already been a world war 3 or 4. Its not gonna happen any time soon.

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