Global General
UNSC to be 'most representative'
By He Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-01-01 08:23
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BEIJING - The composition of the United Nations Security Council in 2011 will be the "most representative" in its history with all of the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) being represented.
Together with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Gabon, Lebanon and Nigeria, whose tenures are to expire in one year, these 10 non-permanent members will work alongside the council's five permanent members, including China and the United States, to address major international security issues.
The newcomers to the council also have a shared interest in promoting the ongoing UN reform, notably the expansion of the Security Council with both permanent and non-permanent seats, experts said.
All of the BRIC countries, an economic bloc comprised of emerging markets on the forefront of economic recovery, will be fully represented on the council, said Pang Zhongying, a professor of diplomatic studies at Renmin University of China.
A debate has been taking place over the composition of the Security Council since the end of the Cold War. Many argue the council reflects a now obsolete post-war structure that held sway when the UN was formed in 1945.
But the new council has gathered the world's most promising powers, economically and strategically influential nations that have the capacity to help share the burden of managing conflicts, said Pang.
"We are probably going to have the strongest Security Council in history," Colin Keating, a researcher with a Columbia University-affiliated think tank, told US-based international politics journal Foreign Policy.
"All of a sudden, they are all there. Now they can make a convincing case that being there makes a difference," Keating said.
In the latest joint statement, the BRIC nations have pledged to cooperate under multilateral frameworks, and their cooperation covers everything from economic coordination to global governance.
Therefore "there is every reason to foresee they will embark on further coordination in the Security Council", Pang noted.
While Western powers are concerned the reshuffled council means it is going to "get a lot more complicated" for them to set their agenda, Pang holds a different view.
"With a weakened US and an economically wounded Europe, a more inclusive and representative council is best positioned to address major security challenges," Pang said.
"It is narrow-minded to view the new composition as 'posing a threat' to the existing stakeholders."
Meanwhile, Germany, India and Brazil, three members of the Group of Four (with Japan leaving the council at the end of 2010) are likely to map out a more aggressive plan to push for the process of expanding permanent membership of the UN Security Council.
Bolstered by its election, for example, India has been trying to win support for its bid for a permanent seat.
"We are entering the Security Council after a gap of 19 years ... we have no intentions of leaving the Security Council," said India's envoy to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri.
While China remains committed to UN reform, rushing into reform and setting a timetable do not go along with Beijing's stance, Pang said.
Zhang Guihong, executive dean of the UN Studies Center of Fudan University in Shanghai, deemed the newcomers' influence on council expansion as "limited".
"The council member election is an annual routine. Issues concerning Security Council reforms are mainly discussed in the General Assembly, not in the council itself, " Zhang said.
Besides, Zhang added, the new composition does not change the decision-making structure within the body, where the five permanent members hold exclusive veto powers.