Security Council reform gains
traction By Kaveh L Afrasiabi
NEW YORK - At this week's parade of world
leaders at the UN General Assembly, old and
hitherto fruitless talk of reforming the Security
Council received a timely revival.
In
contrast to past decades of inaction on the issue,
the chance of reform appears better now than ever
due to several interrelated factors. These include
the dissatisfaction of emerging powers with the
status quo, the council's occasional paralysis and
the growing influence of developing nations via
outlets such as the Non-Aligned Movement.
There is also growing consensus in the UN
community that reform focused on expansion of and
other changes to the Security Council is an
important requisite for restructuring the body so it
can better address world
problems. In his opening speech at the assembly,
UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon sounded an
"alarm" about the condition of turmoil the
international community finds itself in today.
What's different about this year's
treatment of this issue at the UN annual summit is
that so many leaders cited the need for Security
Council reform, and not just from the Global
South.
French President Francois Hollande
may have surprised his Western audience with the
centrality he placed on the subject in his UN
speech on Tuesday. He stated France's support for
an enlargement of the council, a proposal
forwarded by Germany, Japan, India and Brazil, and
favored an increasing the presence of African
nations, including among the body’s permanent
members. Being on the Security Council was not "a
privilege handed down through time," Hollande
said, rather it entailed "the duty to act in
situations that required joint responses". [1]
Unfortunately, there was not even an
indirect hint of support for this in US President
Barack Obama's speech, which was largely a sermon
on democratic values to "new democracies", as if
the US was a firm custodian of free speech. The
simple fact is that there are serious limitations
in the US on the right to criticize the state of
Israel, as this author has repeatedly experienced.
[2]
Clearly, at the moment France and
Germany seem the only members of UN Security
Council with a genuine interest in expansion of
the council. The prevailing sentiment among the
other veto holders - US, Russia, England, and
China - is to maintain the status quo with perhaps
only cosmetic changes in the foreseeable future.
Yet, these powers are now facing fresh
pressures that may be impossible to ignore,
particularly if the General Assembly turns into a
global coalition for Security Council
transformation. In that case, the momentum would
generate a major credibility problem for the
Security Council, as it is basically out of tune
with the will of majority of member states.
This much is clear by scrutinizing
speeches delivered at the UN that indicated a new
willingness to treat Security Council reform as a
top priority. Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono referred to this issue in the context of
his discourse on a post-Cold War "warm peace" that
is inherently unstable and demands a serious
effort to restructure by the UN. [3]
The
sentiment was echoed by, among others, Egypt's
President Mohammed Morsi, who in his
much-anticipated speech delivered a damning
condemnation of Israel's oppression of the
Palestinian people and continuing proliferation of
nuclear weapons without any attempt to join the
Non-Proliferation Treaty, while reiterating his
peace initiative on Syria and calling for reform
of the UN and other global financial institutions.
Although his speech was more moderate in
tone than that of Iran's President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, an analysis of Morsi's address shows
a great deal of synergy between the two leaders,
reflecting a new "twin pillar". (See Egypt
and Iran, new twin pillars, Asia Times Online,
September 1, 2012). [4]
As of Wednesday,
the most powerful attack on the UN's defunct power
structure was delivered by Ahmadinejad, who
lambasted the Security Council as dictatorial and
dominated by a few powers. This was Ahmadinejad's
eighth and final speech at the assembly as the
Iranian president. He had raised the theme of UN
reform in previous speeches but the difference
this year was that Ahmadinejad was also speaking
as leader of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM),
representing 120 UN member states.
This
meant Western states could no longer simply ignore
him or walk out of his talks. However, the US
representative did just that, despite Ahmadinejad
alluding to the tragedy of 9/11 and Osama Bin
Laden as the "culprit", and refraining from any
mention of Holocaust issues. [5]
Of
course, there is no guarantee that a bigger or
more democratic UN Security Council would be more
effective in tackling the world's growing list of
peace and security issues, in light of big power
discord between the US and China and a host of
other rivalries inviting council inaction or
paralysis, as is the case with Syria today,
despite growing calls for immediate Security
Council action to end the violence in Syria.
Irrespective, the countries advocating
Security Council expansion and / or change remain
adamant that the council's present structure is
outdated and unfit for the 21st century - that the
UN must evolve both organizationally and
otherwise.
Several key proposals on how to
reform the Security Council are on the table, but
it may require a new initiative by the secretary
general, such as appointing a new "high-level"
group to give recommendations on how to proceed,
to give the issue real momentum. However, without
receiving a green light from the US and other
permanent members this is unlikely to happen and
it would be unrealistic to expect Ban Ki-moon to
unilaterally take on the entire big powers at the
Security Council.
Still, Ban is the leader
of the entire UN organization and must deal with
the growing disquiet of so many members regarding
the Security Council's outdated power structure.
Even France's gestures are not taken seriously by
many Third World diplomats, and some from African
nations have told this author that they believe
France's "half-hearted" embrace of Security
Council reform is merely "tactical".
Perhaps France is simply ahead of its time
and - unlike the US and other big powers -
realizes that a point of "no return" is
approaching.
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
