Efforts of the International Community to Expand Membership of the Security Council

Abstract

Since the founding of the United Nations, the international community has consistently sought to expand membership in the Security Council, whether permanent or non-permanent. But the will of the five superpowers, especially during the Cold War, prevented passing such a resolution approving the amendments to the charter of the Organization except for the amendment approved in 1963. The post-cold war era witnessed remarkable efforts in the re-examination of the composition of the Council Security, by the research and study committees formed within the framework of the Organization. In addition, the international efforts have led to the introduction of several formulas for the development of the organizational structure, foremost of which is the Committee of Experts set up by former Secretary-General Kofi Annan in late 2004. Accordingly, the research hypothesis is based on the fact that the unilateral domination of the United States over the Security Council and its unilateral decision during the post- cold war. In addition to the emergence of new threats to international peace and security, such as terrorism, poverty, epidemics and climate change. Moreover, the current composition of the Security Council does not cope with the shifts in the balance of international powers, by shortening the permanent and non-permanent membership to a limited number of States. The necessity to widening the membership is manifested to ensure equitable representation of the various continents and regions of the world through greater participation in international decision-making. Thus, the research constitutes of three chapters:  the first chapter dealt with the historical development of the efforts to expand membership. The second one dealt with the reasons behind the expansion of membership in the Council. Whereas the third one dealt with most important proposals addressing the membership expansion.