Document from the year 2023 in the subject Politics - Topic: Public International Law and Human Rights, grade: A plus, University of Delhi (Faculty of Law (Law Centre-1)), language: English, abstract: The main objective of the study is based on two issues: Whether the Composition and Veto Power of the Security Council need to be democratised or not? If it should be democratised, What extent it should be democratised?, Why it should be democratised?, and How it should be democratised? Why the founders of the Organization have given the permanent membership and veto power only to the five members in the Security Council? Why we need reform in the Composition and Veto Power of the Security Council in the Twenty First Century? Due to various changes in the Security Council as well as in the United Nations Organization (especially after the establishment), the Council proved to be insufficient in its representation and ineffective in its functioning. Hence, the assumption made and built the Security Council by the founders of the Organization was suitable only to the situations of 1945 but not to the contemporary world. Hence, the researcher work makes an attempt to study the Security Council reforms, particularly the provisions of Article 23 and 27 of the UN Charter. Further, the ‘Twenty First Century’ is the need of hour to bring the Council in a democratic way to strengthen its capacity and effectiveness for the present and future maintenance of international peace and security. At first, the research work would analyse the necessity behind the limited membership and the veto power of the permanent members in the Security Council under the UN. Further, the work will focus on the expectations of the founding fathers of the UN while conferring various powers and functions of the Security Council and the misuse or abuse of such powers and functions by the permanent members for their own sake. However, the research work will also focus on the expectations of the ‘Third World Countries’ to strengthen the Council’s capacity and effectiveness in the ‘Twenty First Century’ for the present and future maintenance of international peace and security. Moreover, the work also analyses the way in which the membership and the veto power of the Security Council shall reform and how can we bring the effective co-operation and secure the interest among the members of each regions of the world by reforming the Council. At last, the research work highlights the increasing number of UN Peacekeeping Operations and the necessity behind the attention of the Security Council in response to intra-state (i.e., internal) conflicts.

The nature and scope of UN Security Council decisions - significantly changed in the post-Cold War era - have enormous implications for the conduct of foreign policy. The UN Security Council offers a comprehensive view of the council both internally and as a key player in world politics. Focusing on the evolution of the council's treatment of key issues, the authors discuss new concerns that must be accommodated in the decisionmaking process, the challenges of enforcement, and shifting personal and institutional factors. Case studies complement the rich thematic chapters. The book sheds much-needed light on the central events and trends of the past decade and their critical importance for the future role of the council and the UN in the sphere of international security.

This is a penetrating analysis of UN Security Council reform. It presents an overview of the current debates - emphasising the potential for, and modalities of, adjustment in the post-Cold War era - through a systematic investigation of the various reform proposals and the attitudes of member states. This is essential reading for all students and scholars of the United Nations and international relations.

"After grappling for two decades with the realities of the post-Cold War era, the UN Security Council must now meet the challenges of a resurgence of great power rivalry. Reflecting this new environment, The UN Security Council in the 21st Century provides a comprehensive view of the Council's internal dynamics, its role and relevance in world politics, and its performance in addressing today's major security challenges." --Back cover.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) remains an important source of legitimacy for international action. Yet despite dramatic changes in the international system over the past forty-five years, the composition of the UNSC has remained unaltered since 1965, and there are many who question how long its legitimacy will last without additional members that reflect twenty-first century realities. There is little agreement, however, as to which countries should accede to the Security Council or even by what formula aspirants should be judged. Reform advocates frequently call for equal representation for various regions of the world, but local competitors like India and Pakistan or Mexico and Brazil are unlikely to reach a compromise solution. Moreover, the UN Charter prescribes that regional parity should be, at most, a secondary issue; the ability to advocate and defend international peace and security should, it says, be the primary concern.The United States has remained largely silent as this debate has intensified over the past decade, choosing to voice general support for expansion without committing to specifics. (President Obama's recent call for India to become a permanent member of the Security Council was a notable exception.) In this Council Special Report, 2009?2010 International Affairs Fellow Kara C. McDonald and Senior Fellow Stewart M. Patrick argue that American reticence is ultimately unwise. Rather than merely observing the discussions on this issue, they believe that the United States should take the lead. To do so, they advocate a criteria-based process that will gauge aspirant countries on a variety of measures, including political stability, the capacity and willingness to act in defense of international security, the ability to negotiate and implement sometimes unpopular agreements, and the institutional wherewithal to participate in a demanding UNSC agenda. They further recommend that this process be initiated and implemented with early and regular input from Congress; detailed advice from relevant Executive agencies as to which countries should be considered and on what basis; careful, private negotiations in aspirant capitals; and the interim use of alternate multilateral forums such as the Group of Twenty (G20) to satisfy countries' immediate demands for broader participation and to produce evidence about their willingness and ability to participate constructively in the international system.The issues facing the world in the twenty-first century--climate change, terrorism, economic development, nonproliferation, and more--will demand a great deal of the multilateral system. The United States will have little to gain from the dilution or rejection of UNSC authority. In UN Security Council Enlargement and U.S. Interests, McDonald and Patrick outline sensible reforms to protect the efficiency and utility of the existing Security Council while expanding it to incorporate new global actors. Given the growing importance of regional powers and the myriad challenges facing the international system, their report provides a strong foundation for future action.

The United Nations is confronting a severe crisis at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Its capabilities have been called into question amid a rash of recent scandals and charges of leadership mismanagement, bureaucratic ineptitude, and corrupt activities. Current world opinion seems to express elevated concern about the organization's ability to deal with the complexity of international relations in the new millennium. Despite six decades of survival, its membership still appears unable to maintain a consistent focus or set of practices to pursue common goals. The United Nations in the Twenty-First Century analyzes the significance of the many forces and events affecting the UN's efforts at reform. It provides a detailed examination of these processes for all of the major UN organs and agencies, including chapters on the Secretaries-General, the Secretariat, the General Assembly, the Security Council, and ECOSOC. The chapters on the Secretaries-General are the only detailed discussion that compares, contrasts, and evaluates the tenures of the seven people who have headed the UN. The book's concluding chapters focus on Kofi Annan's reform agenda as it relates to previous UN reform experiences and assess the future impact of recent UN-related scandals and charges of mismanagement.

The United Nations faced unprecedented opportunities and heightened expectations when the Cold War ended in 1990. By the time of the UN's fiftieth anniversary in 1995, the mood had shifted. Peacekeepers were bogged down in Bosnia and Somalia. Iraq continued to test the UN's resolve to enforce arms control inspections. In much of the world, the gap between haves and have-nots was increasing. Everyone agreed that UN reform was needed, yet the political will to effect change was absent. With unmet challenges throughout the world, the limits to UN power and effectiveness were being realized. From regional conflicts to areas of environmental degradation and human rights abuses, the UN's success depends more than ever on the way in which three dilemmas are resolved–the tensions between sovereignty and the reality of its erosion, between demands for global governance and the weakness of UN institutions (as well as the reluctance of states to commit), and between the need for leadership and the diffusion of power. In this second edition, the authors have undertaken major revisions along with thorough updating. They explore the three dilemmas in the context of the UN's evolving role in world politics, including its experience in maintaining peace and promoting development, environmental sustainability, and human rights–the focus of an entirely new chapter. They also consider the role of various actors in the UN system, from major powers (especially the United States), small and middle powers, coalitions, and nongovernmental organizations to the secretaries-general. The need for institutional reforms and specific proposals for reform are examined. Because multilateral diplomacy is now the norm rather than the exception in world politics, the UN's effectiveness has been challenged by the new demands of the post–Cold War era. This completely revised and updated text places the UN at the center of a set of core dilemmas in world politics and provides a series of case studies that probe the politics and processes of UN action.

The aim of this study is not to explore all of the problems that arise today in security threats and conflict management, but to seek to understand the role of a particular institution--the Security Council--and the changes now affecting its modes of intervention and its interaction with international actors--great powers, regional organizations, non-state actors.

This is the first major exploration of the United Nations Security Council's part in addressing the problem of war, both civil and international, since 1945. Both during and after the Cold War the Council has acted in a limited and selective manner, and its work has sometimes resulted in failure. It has not been - and was never equipped to be - the centre of a comprehensive system of collective security. However, it remains the body charged with primary responsibility for international peace and security. It offers unique opportunities for international consultation and military collaboration, and for developing legal and normative frameworks. It has played a part in the reduction in the incidence of international war in the period since 1945. This study examines the extent to which the work of the UN Security Council, as it has evolved, has or has not replaced older systems of power politics and practices regarding the use of force. Its starting point is the failure to implement the UN Charter scheme of having combat forces under direct UN command. Instead, the Council has advanced the use of international peacekeeping forces; it has authorized coalitions of states to take military action; and it has developed some unanticipated roles such as the establishment of post-conflict transitional administrations, international criminal tribunals, and anti-terrorism committees. The book, bringing together distinguished scholars and practitioners, draws on the methods of the lawyer, the historian, the student of international relations, and the practitioner. It begins with an introductory overview of the Council's evolving roles and responsibilities. It then discusses specific thematic issues, and through a wide range of case studies examines the scope and limitations of the Council's involvement in war. It offers frank accounts of how belligerents viewed the UN, and how the Council acted and sometimes failed to act. The appendices provide comprehensive information - much of it not previously brought together in this form - of the extraordinary range of the Council's activities. This book is a project of the Oxford Leverhulme Programme on the Changing Character of War.