G4 Reforming UN: Japan, India, Germany, and Brazil on the Security Council?
G4 Reforming UN: How is the UN Security Council currently structured?
With two types of membership, permanent and elected, the Security Council is composed of just fifteen countries, a fraction of the nearly 200 UN member nations. There are five permanent members, each of which wields veto power over resolutions: France, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The other ten Security Council members, picked using guidelines to ensure geographic diversity, are elected to two-year terms – with a class of five new countries joining each year. Although non-permanent members covet these seats for their strategic position, these elected members are clearly second-rate denizens on the Security Council, as all resolutions passed can be vetoed by any one member of the five permanent members. As of April 2006, these elected members include limited influence states such as Qatar, Ghana, and Congo – as well as more influential leaders like Japan and Argentina.
G4 Reforming UN: Why should it change?
Critics of the current arrangement argue that, while it did not always seem unfair to limit permanent seats to the five select nations, the balances of power and other international dynamics have changed, including who has nuclear weapons, who contributes to UN coffers, and who sends troops on peacekeeping missions. The G4 countries of Japan, India, Germany, and Brazil all argue that they should receive permanent seats on the Security Council and that the body should be expanded to acknowledge their emerging powers – economic, political, and military – as well as their contributions to the UN as an overall organization.
G4 Reforming UN: Why Japan?
Japan gives a remarkable amount of money to the UN. In fact, the only country that gives more is the US itself. Undoubtedly strong economically and (since WWII) arguably a peaceful nation, Japan would extend the Asian presence and has the support of many nations in Southeast Asia, including the very populous Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam, which have all benefited from Japanese largesse. One of the objections levied against Japan is its alleged attempts to “rewrite” the human travesties in its history, a vehement cultural sticking point for China and South Korea. The UK, France, and the US all back Japan, as does Russia to a more lukewarm extent.
G4 Reforming UN: Why India?
The first argument for India is that it’s huge. About one out of every six people in the world lives in India, making it the second most populous nation in on earth, with over a billion citizens. The second argument for India is that it maintains a military which must be respected: India openly possesses nuclear weapons, placing it in the select company of the five permanent members of the Security Council, Pakistan, and probably Israel. The economic boom in India is also formidable, as the country’s infrastructure exploded in the early 1990s. Many argue that the “world’s largest democracy” is also deserving due to its contributions of troops to peacekeeping missions. Russia, France, and the UK support India’s bid. China does so with modifications, and the US is tepid in its support, at best.
G4 Reforiming UN: Why Germany?
Like Japan, Germany makes huge financial contributions to the UN. It’s the third largest contributor of funds to the organization’s operations. Given German stability and growth, especially since reunification, it is arguably just as powerful as the UK and France and was only excluded from the Security Council because it was knocked from dominance at the end of WWII. A number of European Union member nations (though definitely not all) support Germany, as it would extend the EU presence on the Security Council. Russia, France, and the UK are all in favor of German inclusion, and the US has sent mixed signals.
G4 Reforming UN: Why Brazil?
On one hand, Brazil’s claim to a seat is the weakest, especially given its inferior military and struggling economy. However, with the United States as the only country from the Americas holding a permanent seat, Brazil can make a case for equality: it would be the first Latin American permanent member. And to be fair, Brazil’s economy continues to develop in ways that are often considered model. It’s also the world’s fifth most populous nation, behind the likes of China, India, the US, and Indonesia. Of the five permanent members right now, Russia, France, and the UK are Brazil’s strongest backers, though the United States has signified its willingness to entertain a Brazilian seat in some form. Also, Brazil contributes, by proportion, more UN peacekeeping troops to worldwide missions than almost any other country.
G4 Reforming UN: How likely is G4 inclusion?
There are high hurdles in place preventing the G4 from completely reforming the UN Security Council. Publicly, the G4 nations all support each other’s bids, as well as a stronger representative presence for Africa, and this unity has made ripples. That said, each G4 nation has different supporters and detractors. No G4 country seems to have unequivocal, universal support among all five permanent members, and each G4 country neighbors at least one member of the so-called UN Coffee Club – nations that are reasonably powerful and which object to their relative peers’ inclusion over their own. For instance, South Korea objects to Japan, Pakistan (another nuclear state) objects to India, Italy objects to Germany, and Argentina objects to Brazil. These objections are based on a variety of cultural conflicts, territorial disputes, economic tensions, and other hard-to-ignore squabbles.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan did propose a “Plan A” and “Plan B” for expanding the United Nations Security Council to 24 nations, but it’s unclear if such a dramatic expansion will take place anytime soon.
G4 Reforming UN: Are there other options?
There has been discussion about granting permanent seats on the Security Council without veto power, which essentially would create a third block of countries: a grouping more powerful than elected members but lacking the ultimate ability to veto resolutions. And although the G4 nations agreed to support each other in their membership bid, there are some indications that Japan may strike out on its own to pursue a seat.
