ABSTRACT
Since it was established in 1945, the United Nations has been the world’s most potent instrument of internationalism, and a beacon of hope for global governance. While the UN has proven valuable as a forum for its members to air grievances and seek solutions to common problems, the UN Security Council – its primary body for dealing with matters of peace and security – has also been a frustrated and frustrating institution, often falling short in addressing a range of challenges, from conflict resolution to peacekeeping to global health. In recent years, for example, the Security Council has been unable to make an effective impact on the Syrian civil war, and it has faltered in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. To a significant degree, the council’s dysfunction is traceable to the realpolitik that prevailed at its inception: each of its five permanent members (P5) – China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States – insisted on retaining an effective veto over Security Council action. The veto has long been a vexing issue, but as great-power competition has intensified and the relative power of the P5 and other major states has shifted, the issue has become more acute and underpins burgeoning calls for Security Council reform. Three of the four articles presented here explore various challenges of reform. The fourth looks at the impediments COVID-19 has raised to peacekeeping – a key element of the Security Council’s mandate – and examines how increased reliance on intelligence could ameliorate them. Earlier versions of these articles were presented at the 2020 Global Order Colloquium at Perry World House, the University of Pennsylvania’s global-affairs hub, with support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The statements made and views expressed are solely the responsibility of the authors.
