The US on Thursday announced that it would support the addition of two new permanent seats for African countries on the powerful UN Security Council — and a first-ever non-permanent seat for a small island developing nation.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield made the announcement in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations think tank, calling it a follow-up to US President Joe Biden’s announcement two years ago that the US supports expanding the 15-member body.
While Africa has three non-permanent seats on the Security Council, that does not allow African countries “to deliver the full benefit of their knowledge and voices,” she said.
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“That is why, in addition to non-permanent membership for African countries, the United States supports creating two permanent seats for Africa on the council,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
“It’s what our African partners seek, and it’s what we believe is just,” he added.
However, a senior US administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to brief reporters ahead of the announcement, said Washington does not think any new permanent members should have veto power because “extending the veto would lead to only greater deadlock on the council.”
That view shows the limits in the amount of power that Washington wants to give to any other country. While Security Council resolutions are legally binding, they are often ignored by targeted countries.
Virtually all countries agree that nearly eight decades after the UN was established in the wake of World War II, the Security Council should be expanded to reflect the world in the 21st century and include more voices.
However, the central question — and the biggest disagreement — remains how to do it.
The Security Council, which is charged with maintaining international peace and security, has not changed from its 1945 configuration: 10 non-permanent members from all regions of the world elected for two-year terms without veto power and five countries that were dominant powers at the end of World War II are permanent members with veto power: the US, Russia, China, the UK and France.
Russia’s veto power, for instance, has stymied any council action on the war in Ukraine and US support for its ally Israel has limited the council’s response to the war in Gaza.
Attempts to reform the council to reflect the changing world began in 1979.
In 2005, world leaders called for the council to be “more broadly representative, efficient and transparent.”
That year, the General Assembly, which must approve any council reforms, shelved three rival resolutions to expand its membership, a reflection of deep divisions that have continued until today.
In September 2022, Biden called for increasing the number of permanent and non-permanent members, including “permanent seats for those nations we’ve long supported, and permanent seats for countries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.”
The US has long supported permanent seats for Germany, Japan and India.
Thomas-Greenfield made no mention of Biden’s other pledge about permanent seats for countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, but the official said the US still supports permanent seats for Latin America and the Caribbean as well as Africa.
Responding to countries arguing that it’s time for the UN to look beyond just regional representation, the US ambassador also announced that the US is supporting the creation of an additional rotating seat for small island developing countries.
“These 39 states are not a monolith. They are home to 65 million people, across over 1,000 islands,” she said. “But each has critical insights on a range of international peace and security issues including, notably, the impact of climate change.”
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