UN Security Council Reform: Unrealistic Proposals and Viable Reform Options - C Eduardo Vragas Toro

When the topic of reform started to gain strength, many countries were eager to devise and propose plans for Security Council expansion that would include them, under the argument of better representation. Despite the logical call for a more representative Security Council, the hasty plans put forth failed to gain major support from countries that would not benefit directly, and were overly ambitious in asking for the P-5’s most prized possession: the veto.

Presently the Security Council does lack adequate global representation based on low and incongruent representational numbers from the General Assembly regional groups. The current regional groups, which nominate members for the E-10, are a hangover from the Cold War and correspond to an “odd” type of geographical representation. The Security Council thus would benefit from an expansion that focused on functional representation as well as geography. An ideal Security Council would eventually consist of twenty-five elected members without any seat permanence, divided among eight groups, with a qualified majority for voting procedures, and the veto used if any three groups worked together to oppose a resolution.22 A distribution of groups would likely produce the following representation:23

PROPOSED GROUPS AND APPROXIMATE SEATS
1. European Group (2-3 seats)
2. North American Group (1-2 seats)
3. Latin American Group (3-5 seats)
4. African Group (3-5 seats)
5. Asian and Pacific Group (6-7 seats)
6. Arab States Group (1-2 seats)
7. Landlocked States Group (1 seat)
8. Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Group (1 seat)

Such a grouping and seat proposal is a fair representation of the world’s populace. Unfair veto practices would be a non-issue since the concept of qualified majority would be the norm, and if a veto were to take place it would have to be backed by three groups working together, thus adding legitimacy to the veto.

Other proposals call for the implementation of weighted voting in the United Nations. A proposed weighted vote for the General Assembly and the Security Council seems logical based on a member state’s population and contribution to the United Nations budget.24 Such a proposal would give more objective eligibility criteria for states wishing to partake in the decisions of the United Nations, and such criteria could in turn be modified for Security Council membership.

Security Council Reform Outlook
Reform of the Security Council has two main points: expansion and procedure; however, nothing can be done in one until there is agreement on both. The problem with Security Council reform is not a shortage of ideas, but the do-ability of those ideas. The great majority of reform proposals have focused on expansion instead of focusing on creating efficiency. The United Nations and the world need a Security Council that is capable of producing better output, greater peace and security, and increased efficiency; and those goals can be better met by reforming the council’s working methods, instead of calling for the inclusion of other member states. Reforming the current working methods by implementing the previously mentioned policy prescriptions will lead to a Security Council that is more efficient, but not one that is more representative.