UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated back in 2020, "Inequality starts at the top – in international institutions. Tackling inequality must begin with their reform."
At that time, the world was fully occupied with combating the COVID pandemic, and reform efforts were put on hold. Once again, reform has been delayed for more than a decade. Guterres returned to the theme of reforming international institutions in late May, speaking at the concluding press conference of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan. He noted that the composition of the UN Security Council should be changed to reflect the realities of today, not 1945 when the United Nations was established immediately after the end of World War II.
Since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, the UN General Assembly, comprising all member states (currently 193), has adopted several resolutions condemning Russian aggression with a convincing majority of votes. However, these resolutions are merely declarations as they lack mandatory force. More effective resolutions from the UN Security Council, which could lead to concrete measures such as peacekeeping operations, are consistently blocked by Russia using its veto power.
The fact that the Russian Federation, an aggressor country, is present at UN Security Council meetings and participates in discussions related to its invasion of Ukraine has long irritated many, not only in Ukraine but beyond. The problem is deeper than it seems. There are significant doubts about whether Russia is even a member of the UN. There are no official decisions regarding Russia's membership in this organization, and the UN Secretariat refuses to disclose any "secret" documents on this matter. Regardless, it can be confidently stated that, according to documents, the permanent member of the Security Council is not the Russian Federation but the Soviet Union. However, in 1991, in an attempt to secure Russia's nuclear and military potential, the UN Security Council decided to turn a blind eye to this violation of the organization's charter and allowed Russia to sit at the table. This, however, did not make its membership legal. It should also be acknowledged that until recently, Ukraine turned a blind eye to this violation as well.
The UN needs fundamental reforms to fully address current global challenges while taking into account the interests of every state. Under President Biden, the United States has actively supported these reforms. However, the process of reform is only possible with a consensus among a wide range of countries, primarily the current permanent members of the Security Council. UN members must make a collective effort in this regard. Unfortunately, this effort is lacking due to problems in bilateral relationships. China is unlikely to support Japan (or India) becoming a permanent member of the Security Council, and Russia will probably oppose Germany and Japan in the current circumstances.
African countries continue to express dissatisfaction with the absence of their representatives on the list of major candidates, though sometimes South Africa is mentioned in this context. To address these problems, ideas proposing more radical options have emerged, such as making decisions in the Security Council by a qualified majority vote or equalizing the rights of permanent and non-permanent members.
It is time to recognize the growing role of Global South countries, including in the UN reform process. The demands of Global South countries are related to the need for the UN to better adapt to today's economic and political realities. The war in Ukraine has made this issue more urgent and intense. As an option, giving the General Assembly a real possibility to overcome the veto of a Security Council member should be considered. If two-thirds of the votes, reflecting the will of the nations of the world – the global majority – are obtained, the veto should be effectively overridden, and such a resolution of the General Assembly should be mandatory for all member states to implement. The question of applying preventive sanctions should automatically be brought before the UN Security Council for consideration if any member of the General Assembly raises concerns about aggression. Achieving the consensus of all interested parties for such a reform will be extremely challenging.
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