Do not make UNSC obsolete
Brazil, Germany, India and Japan have renewed their bid for permanent seats in an expanded UN Security Council, a long-sought goal without clear prospects.
The foreign ministers of the four nations made the joint call as they consulted virtually at the UN General Assembly amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
"We commit to instill new life in the discussions on the reform of the Security Council," the four ministers said in a joint statement after their videoconference on Wednesday.
"The world of today is very different from what it was when the United Nations was created 75 years ago. There are more countries, more people, more challenges but also more solutions," they wrote.
"Only if we manage to reform the Security Council will we stop it from becoming obsolete."
The four nations launched a bid in 2005 to expand the permanent membership of the Security Council, whose setup reflects the victors of World War II.
Five nations -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- exercise vetoes on the world body's most powerful institution.
The chances of Security Council reform "are next to none," said Andrew Bacevich, professor emeritus of international relations and history at Boston University.
"And the reason is that the reform proposal, which in many respects makes great sense, calls upon the Permanent Five countries to lose their power, he said.
"I can't imagine why any of them would find that prospect agreeable."
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