[News] Led by China and India: The Global South Is Trying To Fix the UN

[Anti-Imperialist News]

mintpressnews.com
<https://www.mintpressnews.com/china-global-south-united-nations-security-council-reform/284811/>
Led by China and India: The Global South Is Trying To Fix the UN
*Dr. Ramzy Baroud*- May 22, 2023
------------------------------

In anticipation of next month’s United Nations Security Council talks
<https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3218932/china-says-un-security-council-should-give-smaller-nations-greater-say-and-redress-historical>
on reforming the inherently archaic and dysfunctional political body,
China’s foreign policy chief, Yang Yi, stated his country’s demands.

“The reform of the Security Council should uphold fairness and justice,
increase the representation and voice of developing countries, allowing
more small and medium-sized countries to have more opportunities to
participate in the decision-making of the Council,” Wang Yi said
<https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3218932/china-says-un-security-council-should-give-smaller-nations-greater-say-and-redress-historical>
in a statement on April 29.

More specifically, the new UNSC must “redress historical injustices against
Africa”.

Although calls for reforms of the UNSC have been made many times in the
past, Beijing’s position is particularly important in both language and
timing.

When the United Nations was founded
<https://www.un.org/un70/en/content/history/index.html#:~:text=The%20United%20Nations%20is%20an,living%20standards%20and%20human%20rights.>
in 1945 following World War II, it was meant to mark the rise of a new
world order, one that was largely dominated by the winners of that horrific
war, giving greater influence to the United States and its Western allies.

Indeed, of the 51 founding members of the UN back then, five countries were
chosen
<https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/un-security-council#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20Security%20Council's%20structure%3F&text=The%20Security%20Council%20has%20five,them%20can%20veto%20a%20resolution.>
to serve permanently on the Security Council – the executive branch of the
UN. The rest were given membership in the General Assembly, which played a
marginal and, at times, even symbolic role in world affairs.

Six other nations were allowed
<https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/un-security-council#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20Security%20Council's%20structure%3F&text=The%20Security%20Council%20has%20five,them%20can%20veto%20a%20resolution.>
to serve as non-permanent members of the Council, though they were not
granted the same veto power held and exercised by the five powerful UNSC
members only.

A few years later, in 1963, the non-permanent membership status, served
through annual rotations, was expanded
<https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/content/resolutions-adopted-security-council-1963>
to 10, making the total number of 15 UNSC members. However, the ‘reforms’
ended there, never to be revisited.

The UN was hardly ever a democratic platform, fairly reflecting the
realities of the world, whether based on economic influence, demographics
or any other indicators – aside, of course, from military might and
political hegemony.

>From the post-WWII geopolitical realities, however, the UN perfectly
expressed a sad, unfair, but also somewhat true global power paradigm.

That paradigm, however, is now shifting, and rapidly so.

Calls for reforms have been underway for years, reflected
<https://www.iai.it/sites/default/files/iai0926.pdf> in the activities of
the Group of Four (G4) – Brazil, Germany, India and Japan – for example;
and the Sirte Declaration
<https://www.iai.it/sites/default/files/iai0926.pdf> of the African Union
(AU) in 2005, among others. But the renewed calls for reforming the UN in
recent months have become louder, more significant and, indeed, more
possible.

The Russia-Ukraine war, which has divided the world into political camps,
further empowered China – the world’s soon-to-be largest economy – and
emboldened many countries in the Middle East, Africa and South America.

Of the many indicators of a global power shift, the BRICS nations – Brazil,
Russia, India, China and South Africa – have proven
<https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-06-20/-Achievements-under-the-BRICS-mechanism-in-the-past-16-years-1b1wO2beXn2/index.html>
to be the greatest success story in challenging Western dominance over
global markets and the status of the dollar as the world’s main currency.

As BRICS readies for a major membership expansion
<https://www.cnbctv18.com/views/world-view-brics-expansion-can-be-beneficial-but-with-risk-of-beijing-turning-it-into-soft-power-tool-16565971.htm>,
it is poised to become the world’s leading economic forum – ahead of the
powerful G7.

One of the BRICS members, India, as of April 2023, overtook
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/24/india-overtakes-china-to-become-worlds-most-populous-country>
China to become the world’s most populous country. Along with China and the
combined demographics and wealth of other BRICS countries, it becomes
unacceptable that a BRICS member like India, is still not a permanent
member of the UNSC. The same logic applies to Brazil.

India’s UN Ambassador, Ruchira Kamboj, recently referred
<https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/angry-with-reform-delays-india-calls-un-system-anachronistic-slams-veto-power/article66781723.ece>
to the UN Charter as “anachronistic”. “Can we practice ‘effective
multilateralism’ by defending a charter that makes five nations more equal
than others and provides to each of those five the power to ignore the
collective will of the remaining 188 member states?” Kamboj said during a
debate on the UN Charter.

Of course, she is right. Her logic, however, carries much greater weight
now that her country – along with other BRICS nations, the collective power
of the African Union among other nations and political entities – is in a
much stronger position to bargain for substantive change.

China, on the other hand, is already a permanent UNSC member and a holder
of the veto power.

The fact that Wang Yi is demanding serious changes at the UN, particularly
in the makeup of the Security Council, is a powerful indicator of China’s
new global foreign policy agenda. As a rising superpower with close and
deepening ties with many countries in the Global South, China rightly
believes that it is in its interests to demand inclusion and fair
representation for others.

This is an unmistakable sign of political maturity by Beijing, which will
surely be resisted by the US and other European powers.

The West is keen on either maintaining the UNSC’s West-leaning status as it
is, or, if it must, engaging in superficial or self-serving reforms. This
would be unacceptable for China and the rest of the Global South.

The UN’s reputation is already in tatters following its failure to address
international conflicts, climate change, global pandemics and more. If not
reformed to address global challenges through more democratic means
meaningfully, the UN will risk its future relevance, if not its very
existence.

Feature photo | Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi addresses the 77th
session of the United Nations General Assembly, Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022 at
U.N. headquarters. Mary Altaffer | AP

*Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and the Editor of The Palestine
Chronicle. He is the author of six books. His latest book, co-edited with
Ilan Pappé, is ‘Our Vision for Liberation
<https://www.amazon.com/Our-Vision-Liberation-Palestinian-Intellectuals/dp/1949762440>:
Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals Speak Out’. His other books
include ‘My Father was a Freedom Fighter’ and ‘The Last Earth’. Baroud is a
Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global
Affairs (CIGA). His website is www.ramzybaroud.net
<http://www.ramzybaroud.net/>*

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not
necessarily reflect MintPress News editorial policy.

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