Elected member influence in the United Nations Security Council

Abstract

This article reassesses how members of the UN Security Council exercise influence over the Council’s decision-making process, with particular focus on the ten elected members (the E10). A common understanding of Security Council dynamics accords predominance to the five permanent members (the P5), suggesting bleak prospects for the Council as a forum that promotes the voices and representation of the 188 non-permanent members. The assumption is that real power rests with the P5, while the E10 are there to make up the numbers. By articulating a richer account of Council dynamics, this article contests the conventional wisdom that P5 centrality crowds out space for the E10 to influence Council decision-making. It also shows that opportunities for influencing Council decision-making go beyond stints of elected membership. It argues that the assumed centrality of the P5 on the Council thus needs to be qualified and re-evaluated.

Power and Diplomacy in the United Nations Security Council: The Influence of Elected Members

“…An interesting framework to examine the E10 influence is offered by Jeremy Farrall et al (2020). They postulate that, in order to grasp the dynamics of influence in the UNSC, it is necessary to go beyond the conventional understanding of the Council.…”

“…Third, the UNSC is comprised of fifteen members, and, therefore, it is essential to focus on how decisions are made, who plays what roles, as well as what the relationships between actors are. And finally, it is also key to study influence dynamics within different constellations of members that may emerge at any stage of their terms (Farrall et al 2020;van Bohemen 2020).…”

“…This framework posits that there are four means by which the elected members can affect the Council, namely (i) legitimacy dynamics, (ii) diplomatic capacities, (iii) favourable conditions, as well as (iv) formal and informal mechanisms of influence (Farrall et al 2020). As indicated by the authors, although these four means are distinguished, in practice, they often overlap so that the E10's influence frequently occurs through multiple means.…”

“…Without such legitimacy, it would be impossible to convince all states to respect the Council and voluntarily abide by its decisions. This implies that to be seen as effective, the Council requires elected members that are seen as being effective too (Farrall et al 2020). In this respect, legitimacy creates space for elected members to leave their mark in the Council and to be an integral part of decision-making, which is seen as more representative with the active participation of the E10.…”

Navigating the Backlash against Global Law and Institutions

“…74 Others seek to advance recommendations to strengthen the extent to which Security Council decision-making promotes the rule of law, 75 or to increase the capacity of elected members to provide a check on the exercise of power by the permanent five. 76 Retreat and realign: The second scenario would involve states responding to the Backlash by disengaging from the Security Council and the UN Charter collective security framework it serves. According to this scenario, states might retreat and realign with like-minded and/or regional neighbor states to cooperate on, or at least reach a mutual understanding about the parameters of, more proximate frameworks of principles to manage the risk of future violent conflict within and between such states.…”