ABSTRACT
There are 188 member states of the United Nations that can potentially be elected to serve in the Security Council. In examining the dynamics between the permanent and elected members, there are a series of major tensions which are systemic in nature, but that tend to accentuate the cleavages that already exist within the Council. Much is made of the lack of transparency in the work of the Security Council, in terms of its relatively secretive ways, real or perceived. While the Security Council is only one of the principal organs of the United Nations, in practice it functions with great independence. What becomes increasingly clear to incoming elected members is that the system of governance of the Security Council is radically different than what they had experienced in the other intergovernmental bodies of the United Nations. The two-tier system in the decision making can translate into either a detonator for "prompt and effective action" or an intractable obstacle.
