The Biden team proposes adding up to six new permanent members to the UN Security Council – but without veto power. The United States wants to give seats to Germany and Japan, two of its allies, as well as to India, with which Washington has a difficult relationship at the moment.
© AP Photo / Jacquelyn Martin. The White House in Washington, DC. Archive photo
The UK and France, meanwhile, propose giving permanent seats to Brazil and an African country. However, this is not satisfactory to all of them. Africans want to get two seats at the Council with the right of veto – although it is not clear from which country. Nigeria and Ethiopia have the largest populations in Africa and Egypt and South Africa are at the top of the list in terms of GDP. The battle for these seats will be fierce.
Pakistan has already come out strongly against India’s inclusion as a permanent member of the Council. It is obvious that Japan’s entry there will never be supported by China. Any change in the UN charter requires ratification by all permanent UN Security Council members. There are problems with this in the United States as well.
After all, America – a year before the elections and against the backdrop of a split in the country and the Congress – is not at all concerned about the UN. Republicans have a traditionally negative view of the UN – and now they resent Democrats using it as a platform to push the slavery reparations agenda in the US.
It is unlikely Biden will have time to reform the UN in his election year – and then the administration could change. And if Republicans come to power, they will intensify their attacks on the UN again. Under Trump, the US has already left the UN Human Rights Council – for anti-Israeli decisions. And Congress was considering a resolution to withdraw completely from the UN – and suspend all membership fees. That’s the route the Republicans might well take – promising Americans a “return to sovereignty” after withdrawing from the UN, which is already viewed negatively by 60% of the US.
Malek Dudakov
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