Author: Chioma Egu
The United Nations has long been the pioneer of peace and cooperation in global politics. Since its inception after World War II, no additional devastating war between great world powers has taken place– but its system is far from perfect. According to United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, we have a United Nations that “doesn’t respond anymore to the realities of today’s world,” and is “based on the composition and the rules [...] that reflect the power relations of the post [Second] World War,”– meaning that the UN (GZERO Media, 2026). As it stands, the UN’s system needs reform. Established in 1945, the UN has six different “organs”, one of which being the United States Security Council (UNSC). It is composed of 15 member countries, with five permanent (P5) countries (the United Kingdom, the United States, France, China, and Russia), and ten others that are elected for two-year terms only (United Nations Security Council). In theory, this Is a good idea, having different state’s voices amplified on the advocacy and decision making stands. But these permanent five members have incredible, unchallengeable power over the rest of the UN.
The existence of the “veto power”, the ability for any of the five permanent members of the UNSC to halt any decision, is often called into question. With 293 uses to date, the P5’s veto power has frozen many potential UN resolutions. For example, Russia has 2 vetoes on resolutions related to Ukraine. Likewise, the United States 12 vetoes against resolutions for the Israeli-Palestine genocide (Security Council Report, 2024). Should any state in the UN have this much power in their hands? Furthermore, how can the United Nations continue to work on enforcing international laws and human rights protections when not all member states are required to submit to its decisions?
In a democratic system, all voices have equal power. By this metric, the UN’s Security Council system, with its permanent five members, is not democratic enough. If the aim is to spread human dignity through liberalism and democracy, it must be practiced at international levels. Additionally, if conflicted countries are granted peaceful resolutions, then citizens can Live in freedom, and liberation. They’re able to participate in their local governments and improve the state of their countries.
What are the options available to the United Nations? To completely start it over would risk the whole system unraveling, a speaker on The Economist’s The Intelligence podcast says, and that it is “better to do something with what you have”. If restructuring of the Security Council is the way forward, choosing who will serve on the council is a difficult decision. Brazil, Germany, and Japan have “strong claims” to be a permanent member, but nobody can agree on who the members should be. (The Intelligence, 2020). There are no African or Latin American countries on the permanent council, and India, the second most populous country, is not part either (GZERO Media, 2026). People have also suggested doing away with the veto system entirely, and others claim that the UN should keep the veto, but allow a way to overturn it in crises.
All in all, reform is needed. It is unfortunate that today, after 80 years of the United Nations’ operations, there is still no place for the historically exploited countries at the table. In order to have a successful multilateral network of peace, everyone needs to have a platform to contribute to decisions. In a true democracy, everyone is able to be heard, and the structure of the UN needs to reflect this standard.
References
GZERO Media2026“The UN at a Crossroads, with Secretary-General António Guterres.”
YouTube, September 26. Video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKdbK-A VrY0&t=201s.
Security Council Report2024“The Veto.” Security Council Report, February 13.
https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/un-security-council-working-methods/the-vet
o.php.
The Economist2020“‘The Sad Thing Is That the System Looks Desperately out of
Date’—the UN’s Sombre 75Th Birthday.” The Economist, June 26.
https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2020/06/26/the-sad-thing-is-that-the-system-lo
oks-desperately-out-of-date-the-uns-sombre-75th-birthday.
