View source for United Nations Security Council

{{Short description|One of the six principal organs of the UN}}
{{redirect-multi|2|Security Council|UNSC}}
{{AI-generated|date=October 2025}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=September 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox organization
| image                    = {{box|[[File:Emblem of the United Nations.svg|120px]]|type= transparent}}
| name                     = {{collapsible list
| titlestyle = text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:84%;
| title = {{resize|1.25em|United Nations Security Council}}
| {{Infobox |subbox=yes |bodystyle=font-size:77%;font-weight:normal;
| rowclass1 = mergedrow| label1 = [[Arabic]]: | data1 = {{lang|ar|مجلس الأمن للأمم المتحدة|rtl=yes}}
| rowclass2 = mergedrow| label2 = [[Standard Chinese|Chinese]]: | data2 = {{lang|zh|联合国安全理事会}}
| rowclass3 = mergedrow| label3 = [[French language|French]]: | data3 = {{lang|fr|Conseil de Sécurité des Nations Unies|italic=unset}}
| rowclass4 = mergedrow| label4 = [[Russian language|Russian]]: | data4 = {{lang|ru|Совет Безопасности Организации Объединённых Наций}}
| rowclass5 = mergedrow| label5 = [[Spanish language|Spanish]]: | data5 = {{lang|es|Consejo de Seguridad de las Naciones Unidas|italic=unset}}}}}}<!-- only list the official UN languages http://www.un.org/en/sections/about-un/official-languages/ -->
| map                      = File:UN Security Council Nov 16 2023.jpg
| map_caption              = UN Security Council Chamber in [[New York City]]
| type                     = [[United Nations System#Six principal organs|Principal organ]]
| abbreviation             = UNSC
| membership               = {{unbulleted list
|[[Permanent members of the United Nations Security Council|Permanent members]]:
|{{flaglist|China}}{{efn|name=roc|The People's Republic of China was [[Accession of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations|admitted]] to the UN and the Security Council in 1971, replacing the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]]. The [[Charter of the United Nations]] still lists the Republic of China as the member.}}
|{{flaglist|France}}
|{{flaglist|Russia}}{{efn|name=ussr|The Russian Federation succeeded the seat of the [[Soviet Union]], see [[Russia and the United Nations]]. The [[Charter of the United Nations]] still lists the Soviet Union as the member.}}
|{{flaglist|United Kingdom}}
|{{flaglist|United States}}
}}{{unbulleted list
|[[List of members of the United Nations Security Council#Non-permanent (1966–present)|Non-permanent members on rotation]]:
|{{flaglist|Bahrain}}
|{{flaglist|Colombia}}
|{{flaglist|Democratic Republic of the Congo}}
|{{flaglist|Denmark}}
|{{flaglist|Greece}}
|{{flaglist|Latvia}}
|{{flaglist|Liberia}}
|{{flaglist|Pakistan}}
|{{flaglist|Panama}}
|{{flaglist|Somalia}}
}}
| leader_title             = Presidency
| leader_name              = {{SOM}}<br/>(January 2026)
| status                   = Active
| headquarters             = [[New York City]], U.S.
| formation                = 24 October 1945
| website                  = {{URL|https://un.org/securitycouncil/}}
| parent_organization      = United Nations
| subsidiaries             = 
| footnotes                = [[File:United Nations Security Council regional groups.svg|250px]]
{{leftlegend|#0000ff|African States (3)}}
{{leftlegend|#339900|Asia-Pacific States (3)}}
{{leftlegend|#cc0000|Eastern European States (2)}}
{{leftlegend|#cc3399|Latin American and Caribbean States (2)}}
{{leftlegend|#cc9900|Western European and Other States (5)}}
}}
{{United Nations series}}
The '''United Nations Security Council''' ('''UNSC''') is one of the [[Organs of the United Nations|six principal organs]] of the [[United Nations System|UN system]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.un.org/en/sections/un-charter/un-charter-full-text/|title=Article 7 (1) of Charter of the United Nations|access-date=4 September 2017|archive-date=10 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410130442/https://www.un.org/en/sections/un-charter/un-charter-full-text/|url-status=live}}</ref> and is the primary organ charged with ensuring [[international security|international peace and security]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.un.org/en/sections/un-charter/un-charter-full-text/|title=Article 24 (1) of Charter of the United Nations|access-date=4 September 2017|archive-date=10 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410130442/https://www.un.org/en/sections/un-charter/un-charter-full-text/|url-status=live}}</ref> Its powers as outlined in the [[Charter of the United Nations|UN Charter]] include authorizing [[military action]], establishing [[peacekeeping]] operations, recommending the admission of new [[UN members|members]] to the [[United Nations General Assembly|UN General Assembly]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Article 4 (2) of Charter of the United Nations |url=http://www.un.org/en/sections/un-charter/un-charter-full-text/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410130442/https://www.un.org/en/sections/un-charter/un-charter-full-text/ |archive-date=10 April 2019 |access-date=4 September 2017}}</ref> approving any changes to the [[Charter of the United Nations|Charter]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Article 108 of Charter of the United Nations |url=http://www.un.org/en/sections/un-charter/un-charter-full-text/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410130442/https://www.un.org/en/sections/un-charter/un-charter-full-text/ |archive-date=10 April 2019 |access-date=4 September 2017}}</ref> and enacting international [[international sanctions|sanctions]]. [[Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter|Chapter VII]] of the UN Charter gives the Security Council the power to identify threats to international peace and security and to authorize responses, including the [[Use of force in international law|use of force]]. Security Council resolutions adopted under Chapter VII are binding on UN members and are therefore a source of [[international law]]. The Security Council is the only UN body with the authority to issue [[United Nations Security Council resolution|resolutions]] that are binding on its member states.

Like the United Nations as a whole, the Security Council was created after [[World War II]] in 1945 in the hope of preventing future wars and maintaining [[Peace|world peace]], as the [[League of Nations]] had been formed following [[World War I]].<ref>McNeill, J. R.; Pomeranz, Kenneth, eds. (2015a). ''Production, Destruction and Connection, 1750-Present, Part 1, Structures, Spaces, and Boundary Making''. The Cambridge World History. Vol. 7. p. 324. Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139196079. ISBN 978-1-108-40775-5. Retrieved 26 January 2023.</ref> It held its first session on 17 January 1946 but was largely paralyzed in the following decades by the [[Cold War]] between the United States and the Soviet Union (and their allies). Nevertheless, it authorized military interventions in the [[Korean War]], the [[Congo Crisis]], and peacekeeping missions in [[Cyprus]], [[West New Guinea]], and the [[Sinai Peninsula]]. With the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|collapse of the Soviet Union]], UN peacekeeping efforts increased dramatically in scale, with the Security Council authorizing major military and peacekeeping missions in [[Gulf War|Kuwait]], [[United Nations Transition Assistance Group|Namibia]], [[United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia|Cambodia]], [[United Nations Protection Force|Bosnia and Herzegovina]], [[United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda|Rwanda]], [[United Nations Operation in Somalia II|Somalia]], [[War in Darfur|Sudan]], and the [[Kivu conflict|Democratic Republic of the Congo]].

The Security Council consists of [[List of members of the United Nations Security Council|15 members]], of which [[Permanent members of the United Nations Security Council|five]] are permanent:<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.un.org/en/sections/un-charter/un-charter-full-text/|title=Article 23 (1) of the Charter of the United Nations|date=26 June 1945|website=www.un.org|publisher=[[United Nations]]|language=en|access-date=10 December 2018|archive-date=10 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410130442/https://www.un.org/en/sections/un-charter/un-charter-full-text/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[China]], [[France]], [[Russia]], the [[United Kingdom]], and the [[United States]]. These were the [[great power]]s that were the [[Allies of World War II|victors of World War II]] (or their recognized successor states). Permanent members can [[United Nations Security Council veto power|veto]] any substantive Security Council resolution, including those on the admission of new member states to the UN or nominees for the Office of the [[Secretary-General of the United Nations|Secretary-General]]. This veto right does not carry over into General Assembly matters or votes, which are non-binding. The other 10 members are elected on a regional basis for a term of two years. The [[Presidency of the United Nations Security Council|body's presidency]] rotates monthly amongst its members.

[[United Nations resolution|Resolutions]] of the Security Council are typically enforced by [[United Nations peacekeeping|UN peacekeepers]], which consist of military forces voluntarily provided by member states and funded independently of the main UN budget. {{As of|2021|November}}, there have been 12 peacekeeping missions with over 87,000 personnel from 121 countries, with a total annual budget of approximately $6.3&nbsp;billion.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Data for November 2021|url=https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/peacekeeping_missions_factsheet_246_nov2021_en.pdf|website=United Nations Peacekeeping|language=en|access-date=2022-06-19|archive-date=11 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220711144842/https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/peacekeeping_missions_factsheet_246_nov2021_en.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

== History ==

=== Background and creation ===
{{Further|History of the United Nations}}
In the century prior to the UN's creation, several international treaty organizations and conferences had been formed to regulate conflicts between nations, such as the [[International Committee of the Red Cross]] and the [[Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907]].{{sfn|Kennedy|2006|p=5}} Following the catastrophic loss of life in [[World War I]], the [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919|Paris Peace Conference]] established the [[League of Nations]] to maintain harmony between the nations.{{sfn|Kennedy|2006|p=8}} This organization successfully resolved some territorial disputes and created international structures for areas such as postal mail, aviation, and opium control, some of which would later be absorbed into the UN.{{sfn|Kennedy|2006|p=10}} However, the League lacked representation for colonial peoples (then half the world's population) and significant participation from several major powers, including the US, the [[USSR]], Germany, and Japan; it failed to act against the 1931 [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria]], the [[Second Italo-Ethiopian War]] in 1935, the 1937 [[Japanese occupation of China]], and Nazi expansions under [[Adolf Hitler]] that escalated into [[World War II]].{{sfn|Kennedy|2006|p=13–24}}

[[File:Cairo conference.jpg|thumb|[[Chiang Kai-shek]], [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] and [[Winston Churchill]] met at the [[Cairo Conference (1943)|Cairo Conference]] in 1943 during [[World War II]].]]
[[File:Yalta Conference (Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin) (B&W).jpg|thumb|British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]], US President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] and Soviet general secretary [[Joseph Stalin]] at the [[Yalta Conference]], February 1945]]

On New Year's Day 1942, President Roosevelt, Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill|Churchill]], [[Maxim Litvinov]] of the USSR, and [[T. V. Soong]] of the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]], signed a short document, based on the [[Atlantic Charter]] and the [[Declaration of St James's Palace|London Declaration]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=United Nations|first=Dept of Public Information|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=98U8YSrp1YUC&q=%22The+first+of+the+specific+steps+that+led+to+the+establishment+of+the+United+Nations+was+the+Inter-Allied+Declaration%22%22|title=Everyone's United Nations|date=1986|publisher=UN|isbn=978-92-1-100273-7|pages=5|language=en|access-date=5 December 2020|archive-date=15 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115074545/https://books.google.com/books?id=98U8YSrp1YUC&q=%22The+first+of+the+specific+steps+that+led+to+the+establishment+of+the+United+Nations+was+the+Inter-Allied+Declaration%22%22|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Tandon|first1=Mahesh Prasad|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P5g6AQAAIAAJ&q=%22(1)+London+Declaration%22|title=Public International Law|last2=Tandon|first2=Rajesh|date=1989|publisher=Allahabad Law Agency|language=en}}</ref> which later came to be known as the [[United Nations Declaration]]. The next day, the representatives of 22 other nations added their signatures.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/en/aboutun/history/declaration.shtml |title=Declaration by United Nations |publisher=United Nations |access-date=1 July 2015 |archive-date=3 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150703023233/http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/history/declaration.shtml |url-status=live}}</ref> The term "United Nations" was first officially used when 26 governments had signed the Declaration. By 1 March 1945, 21 additional states had signed.{{sfn|Osmańczyk|2004|p=2445}} The term "[[Four Policemen|Four Powers]]" was coined to refer to the four major Allied countries: the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and the Republic of China.<ref name="sheriff">{{cite journal |last=Urquhart |first=Brian |author-link=Brian Urquhart |title=Looking for the Sheriff |journal=The New York Review of Books |date=16 July 1998 |volume=45 |issue=12 |publisher=New York Review of Books, 16 July 1998 |url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1998/07/16/looking-for-the-sheriff/ |access-date=2019-06-07 |archive-date=9 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220309235120/https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1998/07/16/looking-for-the-sheriff/ |url-status=live}}</ref> and became the foundation of an executive branch of the United Nations, the Security Council.{{sfn|Gaddis|2000}}

Following the 1943 [[Moscow Conference (1943)|Moscow Conference]] and [[Tehran Conference]], in mid-1944, the delegations from the Allied "[[Four Policemen|Big Four]]", the [[Soviet Union]], the UK, the US and the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]], met for the [[Dumbarton Oaks Conference]] in Washington, D.C. to negotiate the UN's structure,<ref>{{cite video |year=1944 |title=Video: Allies Study Post-War Security Etc. (1944) |url= https://archive.org/details/gov.archives.arc.39024 |publisher=[[Universal Newsreel]] |access-date=28 November 2014}}</ref> and the composition of the UN Security Council quickly became the dominant issue. France, the Republic of China, the Soviet Union, the UK and US were selected as permanent members of the Security Council; the US attempted to add [[Brazil]] as a sixth member but was opposed by the heads of the Soviet and British delegations.{{sfn|Meisler|1995|p=9}} The most contentious issue at Dumbarton and in successive talks proved to be the veto rights of permanent members. The Soviet delegation argued that each nation should have an absolute veto that could block matters from even being discussed, whilst the British argued that nations should not be able to veto resolutions on disputes to which they were a party. At the [[Yalta Conference]] of February 1945, the American, British and Russian delegations agreed that each of the "Big Five" could veto any action by the council, but not procedural resolutions, meaning that the permanent members could not prevent debate on a resolution.{{sfn|Meisler|1995|pp=10–13}}

On 25 April 1945, the [[UN Conference on International Organization]] began in San Francisco, attended by fifty governments and a number of non-governmental organizations involved in drafting the [[United Nations Charter]].<ref name=unmilestones>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/aboutun/milestones.htm |title=Milestones in United Nations History |publisher=Department of Public Information, United Nations |access-date=22 November 2013 |archive-date=11 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111074909/https://www.un.org/aboutun/milestones.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref> At the conference, [[H. V. Evatt]] of the Australian delegation pushed to further restrict the veto power of Security Council permanent members.{{sfn|Schlesinger|2003|p=196}} Due to the fear that rejecting the strong veto would cause the conference's failure, his proposal was defeated twenty votes to ten.{{sfn|Meisler|1995|pp=18–19}}

The UN officially came into existence on 24 October 1945 upon ratification of the Charter by the five then-permanent members of the Security Council and by a majority of the other 46 signatories.<ref name=unmilestones/> On 17 January 1946, the Security Council met for the first time at [[Church House, Westminster]], in London, United Kingdom.<ref name=about>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/content/what-security-council |title=What is the Security Council? |publisher=United Nations |access-date=15 January 2021 |archive-date=1 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220901050345/https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/content/what-security-council |url-status=live}}</ref> Subsequently, during the 1946–1951 period, it conducted sessions at the United Nation's interim headquarters in [[Lake Success, New York]], which were televised live on [[CBS]] by the journalist [[Edmund Chester]] in 1949.<ref name="nyt-1951-05-19">{{Cite news |last=Rosenthal |first=A. M. |date=May 19, 1951 |title=U.N. Vacates Site at Lake Success; Peace Building Back to War Output |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1951/05/19/archives/un-vacates-site-at-lake-success-peace-building-back-to-war-output.html |access-date=July 26, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220726230531/https://www.nytimes.com/1951/05/19/archives/un-vacates-site-at-lake-success-peace-building-back-to-war-output.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://untappedcities.com/2021/05/19/united-nations-lake-success/ |title="The United Nations Headquarters in Long Island's Lake Success" First Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly in 1947 at Lake Success on untappedcitites.com |date=19 May 2021 |access-date=16 January 2023 |archive-date=19 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519170543/https://untappedcities.com/2021/05/19/united-nations-lake-success/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/television-broadcast-of-a-new-series-reporting-the-sessions-news-photo/647173796?adppopup=true |title=''United Nations in Action'': Photograph of Edmund Chester, Larry LaSueur, Lyman Bryson at the interim headquarters of the UN General Assembly Lake Success, NY, March 8,1949 ongettyimages.com |date=2 March 2017 |access-date=16 January 2023 |archive-date=13 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230113182015/https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/television-broadcast-of-a-new-series-reporting-the-sessions-news-photo/647173796?adppopup=true |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Cold War ===
[[File:Church House Westminister London 2016 (02).JPG|thumb|[[Church House, Westminster|Church House]] in London where the first Security Council Meeting took place on 17 January 1946]]

The Security Council was largely paralysed in its early decades by the [[Cold War]]  between the US and USSR, and their allies and the Council generally was only able to intervene in unrelated conflicts.{{sfn|Meisler|1995|p=35}} (A notable exception was the 1950 Security Council resolution authorizing a US-led coalition to repel the [[Korean War|North Korean invasion of South Korea]], passed in the [[Soviet Union boycott of the United Nations|absence of the USSR]].)<ref name=unmilestones/>{{sfn|Meisler|1995|pp=58–59}} In 1956, the [[United Nations Emergency Force|first UN peacekeeping force]] was established to end the [[Suez Crisis]];<ref name=unmilestones/> however, the UN was unable to intervene against the USSR's simultaneous invasion of Hungary following the [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956]].{{sfn|Meisler|1995|p=114}} Cold War divisions also paralysed the Security Council's [[Military Staff Committee]], which had been formed by Articles 45–47 of the UN Charter to oversee UN forces and create UN military bases. The committee continued to exist on paper but largely abandoned its work in the mid-1950s.{{sfn|Kennedy|2006|pp=38, 55–56}}<ref name=Chapter7>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter7.shtml |title=Charter of the United Nations: Chapter VII: Action with Respect to Threats to the Peace, Breaches of the Peace, and Acts of Aggression |publisher=United Nations |access-date=26 November 2013 |archive-date=5 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090505055751/https://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter7.shtml |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1960, the UN deployed the [[United Nations Operation in the Congo]] (UNOC), the largest military force of its early decades, to restore order to the breakaway [[State of Katanga]], restoring it to the control of the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]] by 1964.{{sfn|Meisler|1995|pp=115–134}} However, the Security Council found itself bypassed in favour of direct negotiations between the superpowers in some of the decade's larger conflicts, such as the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] or the [[Vietnam War]].{{sfn|Kennedy|2006|pp=61–62}} Focusing instead on smaller conflicts without an immediate Cold War connection, the Security Council deployed the [[United Nations Temporary Executive Authority]] in [[West New Guinea]] in 1962 and the [[United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus]] in 1964, the latter of which would become one of the UN's longest-running peacekeeping missions.{{sfn|Meisler|1995|pp=156–157}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2006|p=59}}

On 25 October 1971, over US opposition, but with the support of many [[Third World]] nations, along with the [[Socialist People's Republic of Albania]], the mainland, communist [[People's Republic of China]] replaced the [[Republic of China]] with a seat on the Security Council; the vote was widely seen as a sign of waning US influence in the organization.{{sfn|Meisler|1995|pp=195–197}} With an increasing Third World presence and the failure of UN mediation in conflicts in the [[Six-Day War|Middle East]], [[Vietnam War|Vietnam]] and [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1965|Kashmir]], the UN increasingly shifted its attention to its ostensibly secondary goals of economic development and cultural exchange. By the 1970s, the UN budget for social and economic development was far greater than its budget for peacekeeping.{{sfn|Meisler|1995|pp=167–168, 224–225}}

=== Post-Cold War ===
[[File:Colin Powell anthrax vial. 5 Feb 2003 at the UN.jpg|thumb|US secretary of state [[Colin Powell]] holds a model vial of [[anthrax]] whilst giving a presentation to the Security Council in February 2003.]]

After the Cold War, the UN saw a radical expansion in its peacekeeping duties, taking on more missions in ten years than it had in the previous four decades.{{sfn|Meisler|1995|p=286}} Between 1988 and 2000, the number of adopted Security Council resolutions more than doubled, and the peacekeeping budget increased more than tenfold.<ref>{{harvnb|Fasulo|2004|p=43}}; {{harvnb|Meisler|1995|p=334}}.</ref> The UN negotiated an end to the [[Salvadoran Civil War]], launched a successful [[United Nations Transition Assistance Group|peacekeeping mission in Namibia]], and oversaw democratic elections in post-[[Apartheid in South Africa|apartheid]] South Africa and post-[[Khmer Rouge]] Cambodia.{{sfn|Meisler|1995|pp=252–256}} In 1991, the Security Council demonstrated its renewed vigor by condemning the Iraqi [[invasion of Kuwait]] on the same day of the attack and later authorizing a [[Gulf War|US-led coalition]] that successfully repulsed the Iraqis.{{sfn|Meisler|1995|pp=264–277}} Undersecretary-General [[Brian Urquhart]] later described the hopes raised by these successes as a "false renaissance" for the organization, given the more troubled missions that followed.{{sfn|Meisler|1995|p=334}}

Though the UN Charter had been written primarily to prevent aggression by one nation against another, in the early 1990s, the UN faced a number of simultaneous, serious crises within nations such as Haiti, Mozambique and the former Yugoslavia.{{sfn|Kennedy|2006|pp=66–67}} The [[United Nations Protection Force|UN mission to Bosnia]] faced "worldwide ridicule" for its indecisive and confused mission in the face of ethnic cleansing.<ref>For quotation "worldwide ridicule", see {{harvnb|Meisler|1995|p=293}}; for description of UN missions in Bosnia, see {{harvnb|Meisler|1995|pp=312–329}}.</ref> In 1994, the [[United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda]] failed to intervene in the [[Rwandan genocide]] in the face of Security Council indecision.{{sfn|Kennedy|2006|p=104}}

In the late 1990s, UN-authorized international interventions took a wider variety of forms. The [[United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone|UN mission]] in the 1991–2002 [[Sierra Leone Civil War]] was supplemented by British [[Royal Marines]] and the UN-authorized [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|2001 invasion of Afghanistan]] was overseen by [[NATO]].{{sfn|Kennedy|2006|pp=110–111}} In 2003, the US [[Iraq War|invaded Iraq]] despite failing to pass a UN Security Council resolution for authorization, prompting a new round of questioning of the organization's effectiveness.{{sfn|Kennedy|2006|p=111}} In the same decade, the Security Council intervened with peacekeepers in crises, including the [[War in Darfur]] in Sudan and the [[Kivu conflict]] in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2013, [[Secretary-General's Internal Review Panel on United Nations Action in Sri Lanka|an internal review]] of UN actions in [[Alleged war crimes during the final stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War|the final battles]] of the [[Sri Lankan civil war|Sri Lankan Civil War]] in 2009 concluded that the organization had suffered "systemic failure".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.firstpost.com/world/un-failed-during-final-days-of-lankan-ethnic-war-ban-ki-moon-1133061.html |title=UN failed during final days of Lankan ethnic war: Ban Ki-moon |agency=Press Trust of India |date=25 September 2013 |work=FirstPost |access-date=5 November 2013 |archive-date=30 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030080724/http://www.firstpost.com/world/un-failed-during-final-days-of-lankan-ethnic-war-ban-ki-moon-1133061.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
In November/December 2014, [[Egypt]] presented a motion proposing an expansion of the NPT ([[non-Proliferation Treaty]]), to include [[Israel]] and [[Iran]]; this proposal was due to increasing hostilities and destruction in the Middle-East connected to the Syrian Conflict as well as others. All members of the Security Council are signatory to the NPT, and all permanent members are [[nuclear weapons states]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/disarmament/WMD/Nuclear/NPTtext.shtml|title=UNODA – Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)|publisher=United Nations|access-date=29 June 2017|archive-date=2 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160502153934/http://www.un.org/disarmament/WMD/Nuclear/NPTtext.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Role ==
{{UNSCR}}
The UN's role in international [[collective security]] is defined by the [[Charter of the United Nations|UN Charter]], which authorizes the Security Council to investigate any situation threatening international peace; recommend procedures for peaceful resolution of a dispute; call upon other member nations to completely or partially interrupt economic relations as well as sea, air, postal and radio communications, or to sever diplomatic relations; and enforce its decisions militarily, or by any means necessary. The Security Council also recommends the new secretary-general to the General Assembly and recommends new states for admission as [[member states of the United Nations]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter2.shtml |title=Charter of the United Nations: Chapter II: Membership |publisher=United Nations |access-date=26 November 2013 |archive-date=8 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131208031716/https://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter2.shtml |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="chapter5">{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter5.shtml |title=Charter of the United Nations: Chapter V: The Security Council |publisher=United Nations |access-date=9 June 2012 |archive-date=1 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131001102526/http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter5.shtml |url-status=live}}</ref> The Security Council has traditionally interpreted its mandate as covering only military security, though US Ambassador [[Richard Holbrooke]] controversially persuaded the body to pass a resolution on [[HIV/AIDS in Africa]] in 2000.{{sfn|Fasulo|2004|p=46}}

Under [[Chapter VI of the United Nations Charter|Chapter VI]] of the Charter, "Pacific Settlement of Disputes", the Security Council "may investigate any dispute, or any situation which might lead to international friction or give rise to a dispute". The Council may "recommend appropriate procedures or methods of adjustment" if it determines that the situation might endanger international peace and security.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter6.shtml |title=Charter of the United Nations: Chapter VI: Pacific Settlement of Disputes |publisher=United Nations |access-date=26 November 2013 |archive-date=8 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131208032239/https://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter6.shtml |url-status=live}}</ref> These recommendations are generally considered to not be binding, as they lack an enforcement mechanism.<ref>See {{harvnb|Fomerand|2009|p=287}}; {{harvnb|Hillier|1998|p=568}}; {{harvnb|Köchler|2001|p=21}}; {{harvnb|Matthews|1993|p=130}}; {{harvnb|Neuhold|2001|p=66}}. For lack of enforcement mechanism, see {{harvnb|Magliveras|1999|p=113}}.</ref> A minority of scholars, such as [[Stephen Zunes]], have argued that resolutions made under Chapter VI are "still directives by the Security Council and differ only in that they do not have the same stringent enforcement options, such as the use of military force".{{sfn|Zunes|2004|p=291}}

Under [[Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter|Chapter VII]], the council has broader power to decide what measures are to be taken in situations involving "threats to the peace, breaches of the peace, or acts of aggression."<ref name=Chapter7/> In such situations, the council is not limited to recommendations but may take action, including the use of armed force "to maintain or restore international peace and security."<ref name=Chapter7/> This was the legal basis for UN armed action in Korea in 1950 during the Korean War and the use of coalition forces in Iraq and Kuwait in 1991 and Libya in 2011.{{sfn|Kennedy|2006|pp=56–57}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/sc10200.doc.htm |title=Security Council Approves 'No-Fly Zone' Over Libya, Authorizing 'All Necessary Measures' to Protect Civilians, by Vote of 10 in Favour with 5 Abasentions |date=17 March 2011 |publisher=United Nations |access-date=26 November 2013 |archive-date=19 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110319093321/http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/sc10200.doc.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> Decisions taken under Chapter VII, such as [[economic sanctions]], are binding on UN members; the Security Council is the only UN body with authority to issue binding resolutions.{{sfn|Fomerand|2009|p=287}}{{sfn|Fasulo|2004|p=39}}

The [[Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court]] recognizes that the Security Council has authority to refer cases to the Court in which the Court could not otherwise exercise jurisdiction.<ref>[http://legal.un.org/icc/statute/99_corr/cstatute.htm Article 13] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019222421/http://legal.un.org/icc/statute/99_corr/cstatute.htm |date=19 October 2013}} of the Rome Statute. United Nations. Retrieved 26 November 2013.</ref> The Council exercised this power for the first time in March 2005, when it referred to the Court "the situation prevailing in [[Darfur]] since 1 July 2002"; since Sudan is not a party to the Rome Statute, the Court could not otherwise have exercised jurisdiction.<ref>{{cite press release |publisher=United Nations Security Council |date=31 March 2006 |url=https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2005/sc8351.doc.htm |title=Security Council Refers Situation in Darfur, Sudan, To Prosecutor of International Criminal Court |access-date=14 March 2007 |archive-date=11 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201011221020/https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2005/sc8351.doc.htm/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Bush-relents-to-allow-UN-vote-on-Sudan-war-crimes/2005/04/01/1112302241979.html |title=Bush relents to allow UN vote on Sudan war crimes |author=Wadhams, Nick |date=2 April 2005 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=27 November 2013 |archive-date=19 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140119052456/http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Bush-relents-to-allow-UN-vote-on-Sudan-war-crimes/2005/04/01/1112302241979.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The Security Council made its second such referral in February 2011 when it asked the ICC to investigate the Libyan government's violent response to the [[2011 Libyan Civil War|Libyan Civil War]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-libya-icc-idUSTRE71Q1DB20110227 |title=Q+A: How will the world's war crimes court act on Libya? |author=Gray-Block, Aaron and Greg Roumeliotis |date=27 February 2011 |work=Reuters |access-date=26 November 2013 |archive-date=26 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226220819/http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-libya-icc-idUSTRE71Q1DB20110227 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1674|Security Council Resolution 1674]], adopted on 28 April 2006, "reaffirms the provisions of paragraphs 138 and 139 of the 2005 [[World Summit Outcome Document]] regarding the responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?docid=4459bed60 |title=Resolution 1674 (2006) |publisher=UN Security Council via Refworld |access-date=26 November 2013 |archive-date=2 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202231721/http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?docid=4459bed60 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Security Council reaffirmed this [[responsibility to protect]] in [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1706|Resolution 1706]] on 31 August of that year.{{sfn|Mikulaschek|2010|p=20}} These resolutions commit the Security Council to protect civilians in an armed conflict, including taking action against genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.{{sfn|Mikulaschek|2010|p=49}}

== Members ==

=== Permanent members ===
{{Main|Permanent members of the United Nations Security Council}}

{{See also|China and the United Nations|France and the United Nations|Russia and the United Nations|Soviet Union and the United Nations|United Kingdom and the United Nations|United States and the United Nations}}

The Security Council's five permanent members, below, have the power to [[United Nations Security Council veto power|veto]] any substantive resolution; this allows a permanent member to block adoption of a resolution, but not to prevent or end debate.{{sfn|Fasulo|2004|pp=40–41}}

{| class="wikitable"
|- "
! width=24% | Country
! width=18% | Regional group
! width=26% | Current state representation
! width=34% | Former state representation
|-
|style="background:#EAECF0"| {{flag|China}}
|[[Group of Asia and the Pacific Small Island Developing States|Asia-Pacific]]
|{{flagicon|China}} [[China|People's Republic of China]]
|{{flagicon|Taiwan}} [[China and the United Nations#Republic of China in the United Nations (1945–1971)|Republic of China]]{{efn|name=China|On 25 October 1971, with opposition from the United States, the [[People's Republic of China]] on the [[Mainland China|mainland]] was given the Chinese seat on the Security Council in place of the [[Republic of China]] on the [[Taiwan (island)|island of Taiwan]]. The [[Charter of the United Nations]] still lists the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] as the member.}} ([[Republic of China (1912-1949)|1945–1949]],<br/>[[Taiwan|1949–1971]])
|-
|style="background:#EAECF0"|{{flag|France}}
|[[Western European and Others Group|Western Europe and Others]]
|{{flagicon|France}} [[French Fifth Republic|French Republic]]
|{{flagicon|France|1794}} [[Provisional Government of the French Republic|Provisional Govt.]] (1945–1946)<br/>[[French Fourth Republic|Fourth Republic]] (1946–1958)
|-
|style="background:#EAECF0"|{{flag|Russia}}
|[[Eastern European Group|Eastern Europe]]
|{{flagicon|Russia}} [[Russia|Russian Federation]]
|{{flagicon|Soviet Union}} [[Soviet Union|Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]] (1945–1991){{efn|name=ussr}}
|-
|style="background:#EAECF0"|{{flag|United Kingdom}}
|[[Western European and Others Group|Western Europe and Others]]
|{{nowrap|{{flagicon|UK}} [[United Kingdom|United Kingdom of Great Britain<br>and Northern Ireland]]}}
|{{N/A}}
|-
|style="background:#EAECF0"|{{flag|United States}}
|[[Western European and Others Group|Western Europe and Others]]
|{{flagicon|United States}} [[United States|United States of America]]
|{{N/A}}
|}

At the UN's founding in 1945, the five permanent members of the Security Council were the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]], [[France]] (represented by the [[Provisional Government of the French Republic]]), the [[Soviet Union]], the United Kingdom, and the United States. There have been two major seat changes since then. [[China and the United Nations|China's seat]] was originally held by [[Chiang Kai-shek]]'s [[Nationalist Government]], the Republic of China. However, the Nationalists were forced to retreat to the [[Geography of Taiwan|island of Taiwan]] in 1949, during the [[Chinese Civil War]]. The [[Chinese Communist Party]] assumed control of [[mainland China]], thenceforth known as the People's Republic of China. In 1971, [[United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758|General Assembly Resolution 2758]] recognized the People's Republic as the [[One-China policy|rightful representative of China]] in the UN and gave it the seat on the Security Council that had been held by the Republic of China, which was expelled from the UN altogether with [[Taiwan and the United Nations|no opportunity for membership as a separate nation]].{{sfn|Meisler|1995|pp=195–197}} After the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] in 1991, the Russian Federation was recognized as the [[succession of states|legal successor state]] of the Soviet Union and maintained the latter's position on the Security Council.{{sfn|Blum|1992}}

The five permanent members of the Security Council were the victorious powers in World War II{{sfn|Kennedy|2006|p=70}} and have maintained the world's most powerful military forces ever since. They annually topped the [[List of countries by military expenditures|list of countries with the highest military expenditures]].<ref name=SIPRI>{{cite web |url=http://www.sipri.org/research/armaments/milex |title=SIPRI Military Expenditure Database |publisher=Stockholm International Peace Research Institute |access-date=26 November 2013 |archive-date=24 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160524130032/http://www.sipri.org/research/armaments/milex |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2013, they spent over US$1&nbsp;trillion combined on defence, accounting for over 55% of global military expenditures (the US alone accounting for over 35%).<ref name=SIPRI/> They are also amongst the world's [[Arms industry#World's largest arms exporters|largest arms exporters]]<ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.reuters.com/article/us-arms-treaty-idUSBRE86Q1MW20120727 | title= United Nations fails to agree landmark arms-trade treaty | first= Michelle | last= Nichols | date= 27 July 2012 | work= Reuters | access-date= 26 November 2013 | archive-date= 16 March 2016 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160316212137/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-arms-treaty-idUSBRE86Q1MW20120727 | url-status= live}}</ref> and are the only nations officially recognized as "[[List of states with nuclear weapons|nuclear-weapon states]]" under the [[Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty]] (NPT), though there are other states known or believed to be in possession of nuclear weapons.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

The block of Western democratic and generally aligned permanent members (France, the UK and the US) is styled as the "P3".

==== Veto power ====
{{Main|United Nations Security Council veto power}}

{{See also|List of vetoed United Nations Security Council resolutions}}

Under [[United Nations Security Council veto power#UN Charter|Article 27]] of the UN Charter, Security Council decisions on all substantive matters require the affirmative votes of nine (i.e. three-fifths) of the members. A negative vote or a "veto" by a permanent member prevents adoption of a proposal, even if it has received the required votes.{{sfn|Fasulo|2004|pp=40–41}} Abstention is not regarded as a veto in most cases, though all five permanent members must vote for adopting any amendment of the UN Charter.{{sfn|Fomerand|2009|p=287}} Procedural matters cannot be vetoed, so the veto right cannot be used to avoid discussion of an issue. The same holds for certain non-binding decisions that directly regard permanent members.{{sfn|Fasulo|2004|pp=40–41}} Most vetoes have been used for blocking a candidate for Secretary-General or the admission of a member state, not in critical international security situations.<ref name=Veto/>

In the negotiations leading up to the creation of the UN, the veto power was opposed by many small countries and was in fact forced on them by the veto nations—the United States, the United Kingdom, China, France, and the Soviet Union—by threatening that the UN would otherwise not be founded. [[Francis O. Wilcox]], an adviser to the US delegation to the 1945 conference, described the situation:

{{blockquote|At San Francisco, the issue was made crystal clear by the leaders of the Big Five: it was either the Charter with the veto or no Charter at all. Senator Connally [from the U.S. delegation] dramatically tore up a copy of the Charter during one of his speeches and reminded the small states that they would be guilty of that same act if they opposed the unanimity principle. "You may, if you wish," he said, "go home from this Conference and say that you have defeated the veto. But what will be your answer when you are asked: 'Where is the Charter?{{'"}}{{sfn|Wilcox|1945}}}}

{{As of|2012}}, 269 vetoes had been cast since the Security Council's inception.{{efn|This figure and the figures that follow exclude vetoes cast to block candidates for Secretary-General, as these occur in closed session; 43 such vetoes have occurred.<ref name=Veto/>}} In this period, China used the veto 9 times, France 18, the Soviet Union or Russia 128, the United Kingdom 32, and the United States 89. Roughly two-thirds of Soviet and Russian combined vetoes were in the first ten years of the Security Council's existence. Between 1996 and 2012,
the United States vetoed 13 resolutions, Russia 7, and China 5, whilst France and the United Kingdom did not use the veto.<ref name=Veto>{{cite web |url= http://www.globalpolicy.org/images/pdfs/Changing_Patterns_in_the_Use_of_the_Veto_as_of_August_2012.pdf |title=Changing Patterns in the Use of the Veto in The Security Council |publisher=Global Policy Forum |access-date=26 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160114211630/https://www.globalpolicy.org/images/pdfs/Changing_Patterns_in_the_Use_of_the_Veto_as_of_August_2012.pdf |archive-date=14 January 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

An early veto by Soviet commissar [[Andrei Vishinsky]] blocked a resolution on the withdrawal of French forces from Syria and Lebanon which were under [[Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon|French mandate]] in February 1946; this veto established the precedent that permanent members could use the veto on matters outside of immediate concerns of war and peace. The Soviet Union went on to veto matters including the admission of Austria, Cambodia, Ceylon, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Laos, Libya, Nepal,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Times |first=A. M. Rosenthalspecial To the New York |date=1949-09-08 |title=RUSSIA'S 31ST VETO IN U. N. BARS NEPAL; Nine Nations in the Security Council Vote for Admitting Country to Membership |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1949/09/08/archives/russias-31st-veto-in-u-n-bars-nepal-nine-nations-in-the-security.html |access-date=2023-01-18 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=18 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118234356/https://www.nytimes.com/1949/09/08/archives/russias-31st-veto-in-u-n-bars-nepal-nine-nations-in-the-security.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Portugal, South Vietnam and Transjordan as UN member states, delaying their joining by several years. The United Kingdom and France used the veto to avoid Security Council condemnation of their actions in the 1956 Suez Crisis. The first veto by the United States came in 1970, blocking General Assembly action in [[Southern Rhodesia]]. From 1985 to 1990, the US vetoed 27 resolutions, primarily to block resolutions perceived as anti-Israel but also to protect its interests in Panama and Korea. The Soviet Union, the United States and China have all vetoed candidates for Secretary-General, with the US using the veto to block the re-election of [[Boutros Boutros-Ghali]] in 1996.{{sfn|Kennedy|2006|pp=52–54}}

=== Non-permanent members ===
{{See also|List of members of the United Nations Security Council|United Nations Security Council elections|2023 United Nations Security Council election{{!}}2023|2024 United Nations Security Council election{{!}}2024|2025 United Nations Security Council election{{!}}2025}}

Along with the five permanent members, the Security Council of the United Nations has temporary members that hold their seats on a rotating basis by geographic region. Non-permanent members may be involved in global security briefings.<ref>{{YouTube|id=FgthI1fdRYA|title=U.N. Security Council Briefing on the U.S. Air Strike in Syria}} [[Time (magazine)|Time]]</ref> In its first two decades, the Security Council had six non-permanent members, the first of which were Australia, Brazil, Egypt, Mexico, the Netherlands and Poland. In 1965, the number of non-permanent members was expanded to ten.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The UN Security Council |url= http://www.unfoundation.org/what-we-do/issues/united-nations/the-un-security-council.html |publisher= United Nations Foundation |access-date=15 May 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120620101548/http://www.unfoundation.org/what-we-do/issues/united-nations/the-un-security-council.html |archive-date=20 June 2012 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

These ten non-permanent members are [[United Nations Security Council elections|elected]] by the [[United Nations General Assembly]] for two-year terms starting on 1 January, with five replaced each year.<ref name="Current">{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/en/sc/members/ |title=Current Members |publisher=United Nations |access-date=4 January 2016 |archive-date=19 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181219111509/http://www.un.org/en/sc/members/ |url-status=live}}</ref> To be approved, a candidate must receive at least two-thirds of all votes cast for that seat, which can result in deadlock if there are two roughly evenly matched candidates. In 1979, a standoff between Cuba and Colombia only ended after three months and a record 154 rounds of voting; both eventually withdrew in favour of Mexico as a compromise candidate.<ref name="SCR">{{cite web |title=Special Research Report No. 4Security Council Elections 201121 September 2011 |publisher=Security Council Report |access-date=8 June 2012 |url= http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/site/c.glKWLeMTIsG/b.7741609/k.778/Special_Research_Report_No_4brSecurity_Council_Elections_2011br21_September_2011.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120608042121/http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/site/c.glKWLeMTIsG/b.7741609/k.778/Special_Research_Report_No_4brSecurity_Council_Elections_2011br21_September_2011.htm |archive-date=8 June 2012}}</ref> A retiring member is not eligible for immediate re-election.<ref name="chapter5"/>

The African Group is represented by three members; the [[Latin America and the Caribbean]], Asia-Pacific, and [[Western European and Others Group|Western European and Others]] groups by two apiece; and the [[Eastern European Group]] by one. Traditionally, one of the seats assigned to either the Asia-Pacific Group or the African Group is filled by a nation from the [[Arab world]], alternating between the groups.<ref>{{cite news |last=Malone |first=David |title=Reforming the Security Council: Where Are the Arabs? |date=25 October 2003 |newspaper=[[The Daily Star (Lebanon)|The Daily Star]] |location=Beirut |url=http://www.worldpress.org/Mideast/1694.cfm |access-date=3 January 2011 |archive-date=11 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210611142412/https://www.worldpress.org/Mideast/1694.cfm |url-status=live}}</ref> Currently, elections for terms beginning in even-numbered years select two African members, and one each within Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean; the traditional "Arab seat" is elected for this term. Terms beginning in odd-numbered years consist of two Western European and Other members, and one each from Asia-Pacific, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean.<ref name="SCR"/>

During the [[2016 United Nations Security Council election]], neither Italy nor the Netherlands met the required two-thirds majority for election. They subsequently agreed to split the term of the Western European and Others Group. It was the first time in over five decades that two members agreed to do so.<ref>{{cite web |title=General Assembly Elects 4 New Non-permanent Members to Security Council, as Western and Others Group Fails to Fill Final Vacancy |url=https://www.un.org/press/en/2016/ga11796.doc.htm |publisher=United Nations |access-date=9 August 2016 |archive-date=5 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805225007/http://www.un.org/press/en/2016/ga11796.doc.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> Usually, intractable deadlocks are resolved by the candidate countries withdrawing in favour of a third member state.

The current elected members, with the regions they were elected to represent, are as follows:<ref>{{cite web |title=Current Members |url=https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/content/current-members |publisher=United Nations |access-date=1 January 2020 |archive-date=22 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220322232811/https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/content/current-members |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=General Assembly Elects Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Tunisia, Viet Nam as Non-Permanent Members of Security Council for 2020–2021 |url=https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/ga12152.doc.htm |publisher=United Nations |access-date=1 January 2020 |date=7 June 2019 |archive-date=25 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200625072237/https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/ga12152.doc.htm |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Kenya wins final contested seat on Security Council |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/06/1066632 |access-date=19 June 2020 |website=UN News |date=18 June 2020 |archive-date=21 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200621054759/https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/06/1066632 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Kenya defeats Djibouti to win a seat at the UN Security Council |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/06/kenya-defeats-djibouti-win-seat-security-council-200618194420819.html |access-date=19 June 2020 |work=Aljazeera |date=18 June 2020 |archive-date=18 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200618222028/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/06/kenya-defeats-djibouti-win-seat-security-council-200618194420819.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Hamill|first=James|title=South Africa returns to UN Security Council: here's the role it should play|url=http://theconversation.com/south-africa-returns-to-un-security-council-heres-the-role-it-should-play-111371|access-date=2020-11-25|website=The Conversation|date=19 February 2019 |language=en|archive-date=24 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024111635/https://theconversation.com/south-africa-returns-to-un-security-council-heres-the-role-it-should-play-111371|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-06-03 |title=Five countries elected to serve on UN Security Council {{!}} UN News |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/06/1163971 |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=news.un.org |language=en}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
! Term
! colspan="3"| Africa
! colspan="2"| Asia-Pacific
!Eastern Europe
! colspan="2"| Latin America<br/>and Caribbean
! colspan="2"| Western Europe<br/>and Other<!-- THE REGIONS ARE THE UN REGIONS - PLEASE DO_NOT CHANGE "WESTERN EUROPE AND OTHER" TO "EUROPE" ETC. -->
|-
!2024
| rowspan="2" | {{nobr|{{flagdeco|Algeria }} [[Algeria ]]}}
| rowspan="2" | {{nobr|{{flagdeco|Sierra Leone}} [[Sierra Leone]]}}
|{{nobr|{{flagdeco|Mozambique}} [[Mozambique]]}}
| rowspan="2" | {{nobr|{{flagdeco|Republic of Korea}} [[Republic of Korea]]}}
|{{nobr|{{flagdeco|Japan}} [[Japan]]}}
| rowspan="2" | {{nobr|{{flagdeco|Slovenia}} [[Slovenia]]}}
| rowspan="2" | {{nobr|{{flagdeco|Guyana}} [[Guyana]]}}
|{{nobr|{{flagdeco|Ecuador}} [[Ecuador]]}}
|{{nobr|{{flagdeco|Malta}} [[Malta]]}}
|{{nobr|{{flagdeco|Switzerland}} [[Switzerland]]}}
|-
!2025
| rowspan="2" |{{Nobr|{{flagdeco|Somalia}} [[Somalia]]}}
| rowspan="2" |{{Nobr|{{flagdeco|Pakistan}} [[Pakistan]]}}
| rowspan="2" |{{Nobr|{{flagdeco|Panama}} [[Panama]]}}
| rowspan="2" |{{Nobr|{{flagdeco|Denmark}} [[Denmark]]}}
| rowspan="2" |{{Nobr|{{flagdeco|Greece}} [[Greece]]}}
|-
!2026
|{{Nobr|{{flagdeco|Liberia}} [[Liberia]]}}
|{{Nobr|{{flagdeco|Democratic Republic of the Congo}} [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]]}}
| {{Nobr |{{flagdeco|Bahrain}} [[Bahrain]]}}
|{{flagdeco|Latvia}} [[Latvia]]
|{{flagdeco|Colombia}} [[Colombia]]
|}

=== President ===
{{Main|President of the United Nations Security Council}}

The role of [[President of the United Nations Security Council|president of the Security Council]] involves setting the agenda, presiding at its meetings and overseeing any crisis. The president is authorized to issue both [[Presidential Statement|presidential statement]]s (subject to consensus amongst Council members) and notes,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/Docs/sc/notes/PresidentialNotesEng.htm |title=Notes by the president of the Security Council |publisher=United Nations |access-date=9 June 2012 |archive-date=30 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330212749/http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/notes/PresidentialNotesEng.htm |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="un.org">{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/Docs/sc/unsc_pres_statements08.htm |title=UN Security Council: Presidential Statements 2008 |publisher=United Nations |access-date=9 June 2012 |archive-date=11 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120811210203/http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/unsc_pres_statements08.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> which are used to make declarations of intent that the full Security Council can then pursue.<ref name="un.org"/> The presidency of the council is held by each of the members in turn for one month, following the English alphabetical order of the member states' names.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/sc/presidency.asp |title=Security Council Presidency in 2011 – United Nations Security Council |publisher=United Nations |access-date=9 June 2012 |archive-date=3 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120603183638/http://www.un.org/sc/presidency.asp |url-status=live}}</ref>

The list of nations that will hold the presidency in 2025 is as follows:<ref>{{cite web|title=Security Council Presidency|url=https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/content/presidency|website=United Nations Security Council|publisher=United Nations|access-date=5 January 2020|archive-date=22 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220322133448/https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/content/presidency|url-status=live}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Presidency in 2026
|- style="background:#ccc"
! Month
! Country
|-
| January
| {{flag|Somalia}}
|-
| February
| {{flag|United Kingdom}}
|-
| March
| {{flag|United States}}
|-
| April
| {{flag|Bahrain}}
|-
| May
| {{flag|China}}
|-
| June
| {{flag|Colombia}}
|-
| July
| {{flag|Democratic Republic of the Congo}}
|-
| August
| {{flag|Denmark}}
|-
| September
| {{flag|France}}
|-
| October
| {{flag|Greece}}
|-
| November
| {{flag|Latvia}}
|-
| December
| {{flag|Liberia}}
|}

=== Penholders ===
{{Transcluded section|source=Penholder (United Nations)}}
{{#section-h:Penholder (United Nations)}}

== Meeting locations<!--'United Nations Security Council Chamber', 'UN Security Council Chamber', 'Security Council Chamber' redirect here--> ==
[[File:Barack Obama chairs a United Nations Security Council meeting.jpg|thumb|US President [[Barack Obama]] chairs a United Nations Security Council meeting.]]
[[File:United Nations Security Council in New York City 2.JPG|thumb|The meeting room exhibits ''Untitled (Mural for Peace)'', the [[United Nations Security Council mural]] by [[Per Krohg]] (1952).]]
Unlike the General Assembly, the Security Council is not bound to [[Meeting (parliamentary procedure)#Session|sessions]]. Each Security Council member must have a representative available at UN Headquarters at all times in case an emergency meeting becomes necessary.<ref name=Whatis/>

The Security Council generally meets in a designated chamber in the [[United Nations Headquarters|United Nations Conference Building]] in New York City. The chamber was designed by the Norwegian architect [[Arnstein Arneberg]] and was a gift from Norway. The [[United Nations Security Council mural]] by Norwegian artist [[Per Krohg]] (1952) depicts a [[Phoenix (mythology)|phoenix]] rising from its ashes, symbolic of the world's rebirth after World War II.<ref>[https://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/untour/subsec.htm "The Security Council"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926063024/http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/untour/subsec.htm |date=26 September 2013}}. ''United Nations Cyberschoolbus''. United Nations. Retrieved 14 September 2012.</ref>

The Security Council has also held meetings in cities including [[Nairobi]], Kenya; [[Addis Ababa]], Ethiopia; [[Panama City]], Panama; and [[Geneva]], Switzerland.<ref name=Whatis>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/en/sc/about/ |title=What is the Security Council? |publisher=United Nations |access-date=26 November 2013 |archive-date=17 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181117065348/http://www.un.org/en/sc/about/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In March 2010, the Security Council moved into a temporary facility in the [[United Nations General Assembly Building|General Assembly Building]] as its chamber underwent renovations as part of the UN Capital Master Plan.<ref>{{cite web|title=UN Capital Master Plan Timeline|url=https://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/cmp/home/about/pid/22303|publisher=United Nations|access-date=29 September 2013|archive-date=4 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120904102130/http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/cmp/home/about/pid/22303|url-status=live}}</ref> The renovations were funded by Norway, the chamber's original donor, for a total cost of {{usd}}5&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite web|title=An unrecognizable Security Council Chamber|url=http://www.norway-un.org/NorwayandUN/UNBodies/The-Security-Council/An-unrecognizable-Security-Council-Chamber/|publisher=Norway Mission to the UN|date=28 August 2012|access-date=29 September 2013|archive-date=26 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226054954/http://www.norway-un.org/NorwayandUN/UNBodies/The-Security-Council/An-unrecognizable-Security-Council-Chamber/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The chamber reopened on 16 April 2013.<ref>{{cite web|date=16 April 2013|title=Secretary-General, at inauguration of renovated Security Council Chamber, says room speaks 'language of dignity and seriousness'|publisher=United Nations|access-date=26 November 2013|url=https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2013/sgsm14951.doc.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130419111003/http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2013/sgsm14951.doc.htm |archive-date=19 April 2013}}</ref> The representatives of the member states are seated on a horseshoe-shaped table, with the president in the very middle flanked by the Secretary on the right and the Undersecretary on the left. The other representatives are placed in clockwise order alphabetically from the president leaving two seats at the ends of the table for guest speakers. The seating order of the members is then rotated each month as the presidency changes.

Because of the public nature of meetings in the Security Council Chamber, delegations use the chamber to voice their positions in different ways, such as with [[walkout]]s.<ref name="haidar2015">{{cite news|last1=Haidar|first1=Suhasini|title=India's walkout from UNSC was a turning point: Natwar|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/indias-walkout-from-unsc-was-a-turning-point-natwar/article7601027.ece|work=The Hindu|date=1 September 2015|quote=According to Mr. Singh, posted at India's permanent mission at the U.N. then, 1965 was a "turning point" for the U.N. on Kashmir, and a well-planned "walkout" from the U.N. Security Council by the Indian delegation as a protest against Pakistani Foreign Minister (and later PM) Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's speech ensured Kashmir was dropped from the UNSC agenda for all practical purposes.|access-date=13 April 2016|archive-date=29 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929214950/http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/indias-walkout-from-unsc-was-a-turning-point-natwar/article7601027.ece|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Goodwin |first=Allegra |date=2023-04-06 |title=Russian accused of war crimes triggers walkout at UN Security Council |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/06/europe/un-security-council-walk-out-intl |access-date=2025-10-15 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref>

=== Consultation room ===
Due to the public scrutiny of the Security Council Chamber,<ref name="hovell2016">{{cite book|last1=Hovell|first1=Devika|title=The Power of Process: The Value of Due Process in Security Council Sanctions Decision-making|date=2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-871767-6|page=145}}</ref> much of the work of the Security Council is conducted behind closed doors in "informal consultations".<ref name="dewet2003">{{cite book|editor-last1=De Wet|editor-first1=Erika|editor-last2=Nollkaemper|editor-first2=André|editor-last3=Dijkstra|editor-first3=Petra|title=Review of the Security Council by member states|date=2003|publisher=Intersentia|location=Antwerp|isbn=978-90-5095-307-8|pages=31–32}}</ref><ref name="bosco2009">{{cite book|last1=Bosco|first1=David L.|title=Five to Rule Them All: the UN Security Council and the Making of the Modern World|date=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-532876-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/fivetorulethemal00bosc/page/138 138–139]|url=https://archive.org/details/fivetorulethemal00bosc/page/138}}</ref>

In 1978, West Germany funded the construction of a conference room next to the Security Council Chamber. The room was used for "informal consultations", which soon became the primary meeting format for the Security Council. In 1994, the French ambassador complained to the Secretary-General that "informal consultations have become the Council's characteristic working method, whilst public meetings, originally the norm, are increasingly rare and increasingly devoid of content: everyone knows that when the Council goes into public meeting everything has been decided in advance".<ref name="elgebeily2017">{{cite book|last1=Elgebeily|first1=Sherif|title=The Rule of Law in the United Nations Security Council Decision-Making Process: Turning the Focus Inwards|date=2017|isbn=978-1-315-41344-0|pages=54–55|publisher=Taylor & Francis }}</ref> When Russia funded the renovation of the consultation room in 2013, the Russian ambassador called it "quite simply, the most fascinating place in the entire diplomatic universe".<ref name="sievers2014">{{cite book|last1=Sievers|first1=Loraine|last2=Daws|first2=Sam|title=The Procedure of the UN Security Council|date=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-150843-1|edition=4}}</ref>

Only members of the Security Council are permitted in the conference room for consultations. The press is not admitted, and other members of the United Nations cannot be invited into the consultations.<ref name="unsc_glossary">{{cite web|title=Security Council Handbook Glossary|url=https://www.un.org/en/sc/about/methods/glossary.shtml|website=United Nations Security Council|quote="Consultations of the whole" are consultations held in private with all 15 Council members present. Such consultations are held in the Consultations Room, are announced in the UN Journal, have an agreed agenda and interpretation, and may involve one or more briefers. The consultations are closed to non-Council Member States. "Informal consultations" mostly refer to "consultations of the whole", but in different contexts may also refer to consultations among the 15 Council members or only some of them held without a Journal announcement and interpretation.|access-date=29 June 2017|archive-date=12 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170612005148/http://www.un.org/en/sc/about/methods/glossary.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> No formal record is kept of the informal consultations.<ref name="unsc_meetings">{{cite web|title=United Nations Security Council Meeting records|url=https://www.un.org/en/sc/meetings/|access-date=10 February 2017|quote=The preparatory work for formal meetings is conducted in informal consultations for which no public record exists.|archive-date=31 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131194210/http://www.un.org/en/sc/meetings/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="unsc_faq">{{cite web|title=Frequently Asked Questions|url=https://www.un.org/en/sc/about/faq.shtml|website=United Nations Security Council|quote=Both open and closed meetings are formal meetings of the Security Council. Closed meetings are not open to the public and no verbatim record of statements is kept, instead the Security Council issues a Communiqué in line with Rule 55 of its Provisional Rules of Procedure. Consultations are informal meetings of the Security Council members and are not covered in the Repertoire.|access-date=29 June 2017|archive-date=5 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180905205244/http://www.un.org/en/sc/about/faq.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> As a result, the delegations can negotiate with each other in secret, striking deals and compromises without having their every word transcribed into the permanent record. The privacy of the conference room also makes it possible for the delegates to deal with each other in a friendly manner. In one early consultation, a new delegate from a Communist nation began a propaganda attack on the United States, only to be told by the Soviet delegate, "We don't talk that way in here."<ref name="bosco2009"/>

A permanent member can cast a "pocket veto" during the informal consultation by declaring its opposition to a measure. Since a veto would prevent the resolution from being passed, the sponsor will usually refrain from putting the resolution to a vote. Resolutions are vetoed only if the sponsor feels so strongly about a measure that it wishes to force the permanent member to cast a formal veto.<ref name="dewet2003"/><ref name="scr2015">{{cite journal|title=The Veto|journal=Security Council Report|date=19 October 2015|volume=2015|issue=3|url=http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/research_report_3_the_veto_2015.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305003908/http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/research_report_3_the_veto_2015.pdf|archive-date=5 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> By the time a resolution reaches the Security Council Chamber, it has already been discussed, debated and amended in the consultations. The open meeting of the Security Council is merely a public ratification of a decision that has already been reached in private.<ref name="reid1999">{{cite web|last1=Reid|first1=Natalie|title=Informal Consultations|url=https://www.globalpolicy.org/security-council/32941-informal-consultations-natalie-reid-january-1999.html|website=Global Policy Forum|date=January 1999|access-date=13 April 2016|archive-date=28 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428084917/https://www.globalpolicy.org/security-council/32941-informal-consultations-natalie-reid-january-1999.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="dewet2003"/> For example, [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373|Resolution 1373]] was adopted without public debate in a meeting that lasted just five minutes.<ref name="dewet2003"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Meeting record, Security Council, 4385th meeting|url=https://undocs.org/S/PV.4385|id=S/PV.4385|website=United Nations Repository|publisher=United Nations|date=28 September 2001|access-date=9 October 2017|archive-date=10 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010145738/https://undocs.org/S/PV.4385|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Security Council holds far more consultations than public meetings. In 2012, the Security Council held 160 consultations, 16 private meetings and 9 public meetings. In times of crisis, the Security Council still meets primarily in consultations, but it also holds more public meetings. After the outbreak of the [[Russo-Ukrainian War]] in 2014, the Security Council returned to the patterns of the Cold War, as Russia and the Western countries engaged in verbal duels in front of the television cameras. In 2016, the Security Council held 150 consultations, 19 private meetings and 68 public meetings.<ref name="unite2016">{{cite web|title=Highlights of Security Council Practice 2016|url=https://unite.un.org/sites/unite.un.org/files/app-schighlights/index.html|website=Unite|publisher=United Nations|access-date=10 February 2017|archive-date=11 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211080514/https://unite.un.org/sites/unite.un.org/files/app-schighlights/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Subsidiary organs/bodies ==
Article 29 of the Charter provides that the Security Council can establish subsidiary bodies in order to perform its functions. This authority is also reflected in Rule 28 of the Provisional Rules of Procedure. The subsidiary bodies established by the Security Council are extremely heterogenous. On the one hand, they include bodies such as the Security Council Committee on Admission of New Members. On the other hand, both the [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia]] and the [[International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda]] were also created as subsidiary bodies of the Security Council. The by now numerous Sanctions Committees established in order to oversee implementation of the various sanctions regimes are also subsidiary bodies of the council.

== United Nations peacekeepers ==
{{Main|United Nations peacekeeping|List of United Nations peacekeeping missions}}

After approval by the Security Council, the UN may send [[peacekeeping|peacekeepers]] to regions where armed conflict has recently ceased or paused to enforce the terms of peace agreements and to discourage combatants from resuming hostilities. Since the UN does not maintain its own military, peacekeeping forces are voluntarily provided by member states. These soldiers are sometimes nicknamed "Blue Helmets" for their distinctive gear.{{sfn|Fasulo|2004|p=52}}{{sfn|Coulon|1998|p=ix}} The peacekeeping force as a whole received the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] in 1988.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1988/|author=Nobel Prize|title=The Nobel Peace Prize 1988|access-date=3 April 2011|archive-date=2 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110402191526/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1988/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Female combat troops of South African Contingent in MONUSCO on robust foot and moblile patrols 62.jpg|thumb|South African soldiers patrolling as part of [[MONUSCO]] in 2018]]

As of 28 February 2023, the UN had 86,903 uniformed and civilian personnel serving in 12 peacekeeping missions, with 121 countries contributing military personnel.<ref>{{Cite web |title=DATA |url=https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/data |access-date=2023-05-31 |website=United Nations Peacekeeping |language=en |archive-date=22 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922130007/https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/data |url-status=live }}</ref> The largest was the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ([[MONUSCO]]), which included 20,688 uniformed personnel. The smallest, United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan ([[UNMOGIP]]), included 42 uniformed personnel responsible for monitoring the ceasefire in [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]]. Peacekeepers with the [[United Nations Truce Supervision Organization]] (UNTSO) have been stationed in the Middle East since 1948, the longest-running active peacekeeping mission.<ref name="UNPO">{{cite web |date=30 September 2013 |title=United Nations Peacekeeping Operations |url=https://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/resources/statistics/factsheet.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160323162900/http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/resources/statistics/factsheet.shtml |archive-date=23 March 2016 |access-date=9 November 2013 |publisher=United Nations}}</ref>

UN peacekeepers have also drawn criticism in several postings. Peacekeepers have been accused of child rape, soliciting prostitutes, or sexual abuse during various peacekeeping missions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3145-2004Dec15.html|title=U.N.&nbsp;Sexual Abuse Alleged in Congo|newspaper=The Washington Post|first=Colum|last=Lynch|date=16 December 2004|access-date=21 November 2013|archive-date=11 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111062103/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3145-2004Dec15.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Haiti,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6195830.stm|title=UN troops face child abuse claims|work=BBC News|date=30 November 2006|access-date=21 November 2013|archive-date=9 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131209171221/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6195830.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> Liberia,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/08/world/africa/08iht-abuse.html|title=Aid workers in Liberia accused of sex abuse|work=The New York Times|date=8 May 2006|access-date=22 November 2013|archive-date=3 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141003214726/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/08/world/africa/08iht-abuse.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Sudan and what is now South Sudan,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1538476/UN-staff-accused-of-raping-children-in-Sudan.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1538476/UN-staff-accused-of-raping-children-in-Sudan.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title= UN staff accused of raping children in Sudan|work=The Telegraph|date=4 January 2007| first=Kate | last=Holt |access-date=21 November 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Burundi and Ivory Coast.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7420798.stm|title=Peacekeepers 'abusing children'|publisher=BBC|date=28 May 2007|access-date=21 November 2013|archive-date=9 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131209173237/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7420798.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> Scientists cited UN peacekeepers from Nepal as the likely source of the [[2010–2013 Haiti cholera outbreak]], which killed more than 8,000 Haitians following the [[2010 Haiti earthquake]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/09/world/americas/haiti-un-cholera-lawsuit/ |title=U.N. sued for 'bringing cholera to Haiti', causing outbreak that killed thousands |author=Watson, Ivan and Joe Vaccarello |date=10 October 2013 |publisher=CNN |access-date=18 November 2013 |archive-date=3 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203002147/http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/09/world/americas/haiti-un-cholera-lawsuit/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

The budget for peacekeeping is assessed separately from the main UN organisational budget; in the fiscal year 1 July 2021 – 30 June 2022, peacekeeping expenditures amounted for $6.38 billion.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=How we are funded |url=https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/how-we-are-funded |access-date=2023-05-31 |website=United Nations Peacekeeping |language=en |archive-date=26 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211226155653/https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/how-we-are-funded |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Fasulo|2004|p=115}} UN peace operations are funded by assessments, using a formula derived from the regular funding scale, but including a weighted surcharge for the five permanent Security Council members. This surcharge serves to offset discounted peacekeeping assessment rates for less-developed countries.

This amount finances 10 of the 12 ongoing [[List of United Nations peacekeeping missions|UN peacekeeping missions]], along the liquidation of the UN African Union Hybrid Operation in Darfur ([[United Nations–African Union Mission in Darfur|UNAMID]]) and logistics support for the African Union Mission in Somalia ([[African Union Mission to Somalia|AMISOM]]), providing the technology, logistics and general support to all peace operations through global service centres in [[Brindisi]] ([[Italy]]) and a regional service centre in [[Entebbe]] ([[Uganda]]). The UN Truce Supervision Organisation ([[United Nations Truce Supervision Organization|UNTSO]]) and the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan ([[UNMOGIP]]) are excluded from the Peacekeeping Operations budget and are financed through the regular UN budget.<ref name=":0" />

For the 2020–2021 budget, the top 10 providers of assessed financial contributions to United Nations peacekeeping operations were the US (27.89%), China (15.21%), Japan (8.56%), Germany (6.09%), the United Kingdom (5.79%), France (5.61%), Italy (3.30%), Russian Federation (3.04%), Canada (2.73%) and South Korea (2.26%).<ref name=":0" />

== Criticism and evaluations ==
{{Main|Criticism of the United Nations}}

In examining the first sixty years of the Security Council's existence, British historian [[Paul Kennedy]] concludes that "glaring failures had not only accompanied the UN's many achievements, they overshadowed them", identifying as particular failures the lack of will to prevent ethnic massacres in Bosnia and Rwanda.{{sfn|Kennedy|2006|pp=101–103, 110}} Kennedy attributes the failures to the UN's lack of reliable military resources, writing that "above all, one can conclude that the practice of announcing (through a Security Council resolution) a new peacekeeping mission without ensuring that sufficient armed forces will be available has usually proven to be a recipe for humiliation and disaster."{{sfn|Kennedy|2006|p=110}}

Several studies have examined the Security Council's responsiveness to armed conflict. Findings suggests that the council is more likely to meet and deliberate on conflicts that are more intense and have led to more humanitarian suffering, but that its responsiveness is also shaped by the political interests of member states and in particular of the permanent members.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Lundgren |first1= Magnus|last2= Klamberg |first2= Mark|date= 2022 |title=Selective Attention: The United Security Council and Armed Conflict |journal= British Journal of Political Science |volume= 53|issue= 3|doi= 10.1017/S0007123422000461 |doi-access= free}}</ref>

A 2005 [[RAND Corporation]] study found the UN to be successful in two out of three peacekeeping efforts. It compared UN nation-building efforts to those of the United States, and found that 88% of UN cases had led to lasting peace.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2005/RAND_MG304.sum.pdf|author=RAND Corporation|title=The UN's Role in Nation Building: From the Congo to Iraq|access-date=30 December 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050220232620/https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2005/RAND_MG304.sum.pdf|archive-date=20 February 2005|url-status=live}}</ref> Also in 2005, the [[Human Security Report 2005|Human Security Report]] documented a decline in the number of wars, genocides and human rights abuses since the end of the Cold War, and presented evidence, albeit circumstantial, that international activism—mostly spearheaded by the UN—had been the main cause of the decline in armed conflict since the end of the Cold War.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.humansecurityreport.info/|author=Human Security Centre|title=The Human Security Report 2005|access-date=8 February 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://swap.stanford.edu/20090728163300/http%3A//www.humansecurityreport.info/|archive-date=28 July 2009}}</ref>

Scholar Sudhir Chella Rajan argued in 2006 that the five permanent members of the Security Council, all of which are nuclear powers, had created an exclusive [[nuclear club]] that predominantly addresses the strategic interests and political motives of the permanent members{{mdash}}for example, protecting the oil-rich Kuwaitis in 1991 but poorly protecting the resource-poor Rwandans in 1994.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Rajan |first=Sudhir Chella |title=Global Politics and Institutions |url=http://www.gtinitiative.org/documents/PDFFINALS/3Politics.pdf |journal=GTI Paper Series: Frontiers of a Great Transition |volume=3 |publisher=Tellus Institute |year=2006 |access-date=11 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061028135640/http://www.gtinitiative.org/documents/PDFFINALS/3Politics.pdf |archive-date=28 October 2006 |url-status=live}}</ref> Since three of the five permanent members are European, and four are predominantly white developed nations, the Security Council has been described as a pillar of [[global apartheid]] by Titus Alexander, former Chair of the Westminster United Nations Association.{{sfn|Alexander|1996|pp=158–160}}

The Security Council's effectiveness and relevance are questioned by some because, in most high-profile cases, there are essentially no consequences for violating a Security Council resolution. During the [[Darfur crisis]], [[Janjaweed]] militias, allowed by elements of the Sudanese government, committed violence against an indigenous population, killing thousands of civilians. In the [[Srebrenica massacre]], Serbian troops committed genocide against [[Bosniaks]], although [[Srebrenica]] had been declared a UN [[safe area (Bosnian War)|safe area]], protected by 400 armed Dutch peacekeepers.{{sfn|Deni|2007|p=71|ps=: "As Serbian forces attacked Srebrenica in July 1995, the [400] Dutch soldiers escorted women and children out of the city, leaving behind roughly 7,500 Muslim men who were subsequently massacred by the attacking Serbs."}}

The [[UN Charter]] gives all three powers of the [[legislative]], executive and [[judiciary]] branches to the Security Council.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Creery |first=Janet |title=Read the fine print first |year=2004 |url=http://peacemagazine.org/archive/v10n1p20.htm |journal=[[Peace Magazine]] |issue=Jan–Feb 1994 |page=20 |access-date=11 December 2011 |archive-date=7 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111207044853/http://www.peacemagazine.org/archive/v10n1p20.htm |url-status=live}}</ref>

In his inaugural speech at the [[16th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement]] in August 2012, [[Ayatollah Ali Khamenei]] criticized the Security Council as having an "illogical, unjust and completely undemocratic structure and mechanism" and called for a complete reform of the body.<ref name="test">[https://web.archive.org/web/20120831155453/http://www.namna.ir/en/homeen/28-english-latest-news/1128-supreme-leader-s-inaugural-speech-at-16th-nam-summit.html "Supreme Leader's Inaugural Speech at 16th NAM Summit"]. Non-Aligned Movement News Agency. Retrieved 31 August 2012.</ref>

The Security Council has been criticized for failure in resolving many conflicts{{mdash}}including [[Cyprus problem|Cyprus]], [[Sri Lankan civil war|Sri Lanka]], [[Syrian civil war|Syria]], [[Kosovo War|Kosovo]], and the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]]{{mdash}}reflecting the wider shortcomings of the UN.
For example, at the 68th Session of the UN General Assembly, New Zealand Prime Minister [[John Key]] heavily criticized the UN's inaction on [[Syria]], more than two years after the Syrian civil war had begun.<ref>[http://www.3news.co.nz/Key-compromises-on-UN-Syria-deal/tabid/1607/articleID/315021/Default.aspx Key compromises on UN Syria deal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930183756/http://www.3news.co.nz/Key-compromises-on-UN-Syria-deal/tabid/1607/articleID/315021/Default.aspx |date=30 September 2013}}. ''3 News NZ''. 28 September 2013.</ref>

There is evidence of [[bribery]] in the Security Council. Countries that are elected to the Security Council see a large increase in foreign aid from the US, averaging 59%. They also see an 8% increase in aid from the UN, mainly from [[UNICEF]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kuziemko|first=Ilyana|date=2006-08-01|title=How Much Is a Seat on the Security Council Worth? Foreign Aid and Bribery at the United Nations|journal=Journal of Political Economy|language=en|volume=114|issue=5|pages=905–930|doi=10.1086/507155| doi-access=free|issn=0022-3808}}</ref> The increase most strongly correlates to years in which the Security Council addresses issues relevant to the US. There is also evidence of increased foreign aid to elected countries from Japan and Germany. One study found membership on the Security Council correlates with reduced economic growth for a given country over the course of its two-year term{{mdash}}3.5% growth during membership compared to 8.7% over four years of non-membership{{mdash}}although the effect is mainly driven by African authoritarian countries. Elected members also experience a reduction in democracy and [[freedom of the press]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Vreeland|first=James Raymond|date=2019-05-11|title=Corrupting International Organizations|journal=Annual Review of Political Science|language=en|volume=22|issue=1|pages=205–222|doi=10.1146/annurev-polisci-050317-071031| doi-access=free|issn=1094-2939}}</ref>

== Membership reform ==
{{Main|Reform of the United Nations Security Council}}

[[File:G4 Nations.svg|thumb|The [[G4 nations]]: [[Brazil]], [[Germany]], [[India]], [[Japan]]]]
[[File:Uniting for Consensus core.png|thumb|left|200px|The [[Uniting for Consensus]]: [[Italy]], [[Pakistan]], [[Spain]], [[Canada]], [[Mexico]], [[Argentina]], [[Turkey]], [[South Korea]] and others]]

Proposals to reform the Security Council began with the conference that wrote the UN Charter and have continued to the present day. As British historian Paul Kennedy writes, "Everyone agrees that the present structure is flawed. But consensus on how to fix it remains out of reach."{{sfn|Kennedy|2006|p=76}}

There has been discussion of increasing the number of permanent members. The countries which have made the strongest demands for permanent seats are Brazil, Germany, India and Japan. Japan and Germany, the main defeated powers in WWII, had been the UN's second- and third-largest funders, respectively, before China took over as the second largest funder in recent years, whilst Brazil and India are two of the largest contributors of troops to UN-mandated peace-keeping missions.

Italy, another main defeated power in WWII and now the UN's sixth-largest funder, leads a movement known as [[Uniting for Consensus]] in opposition to the possible expansion of permanent seats. Core members of the group include Canada, South Korea, Spain, Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan, Turkey, Argentina and Colombia. Their proposal is to create a new category of seats, still non-permanent, but elected for an extended duration (semi-permanent seats). As far as traditional categories of seats are concerned, the UfC proposal does not imply any change, but only the introduction of small and medium size states amongst groups eligible for regular seats. This proposal includes even the question of veto, giving a range of options that goes from abolition to limitation of the application of the veto only to Chapter VII matters.

Former UN secretary-general [[Kofi Annan]] asked a team of advisers to come up with recommendations for reforming the United Nations by the end of 2004. One proposed measure is to increase the number of permanent members by five, which, in most proposals, would include Brazil, Germany, India and Japan (known as the [[G4 nations]]), one seat from Africa (most likely between Egypt, Nigeria or South Africa), and/or one seat from the [[Arab League]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-2006-11-01-voa46/323974.html |title=UN Security Council Reform May Shadow Annan's Legacy |date=1 November 2006 |publisher=[[Voice of America]] |access-date=11 December 2011 |archive-date=3 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203032517/http://www.voanews.com/english/news/a-13-2006-11-01-voa46.html |url-status=live}}</ref> On 21 September 2004, the G4 nations issued a joint statement mutually backing each other's claim to permanent status, together with two African countries. Currently the proposal has to be accepted by two-thirds of the General Assembly (128 votes).

The permanent members, each holding the right of veto, announced their positions on Security Council reform reluctantly. The United States has unequivocally supported the permanent membership of Japan and lent its support to India and a small number of additional non-permanent members. The United Kingdom and France have essentially supported the G4 position, with the expansion of permanent and non-permanent members and the accession of Germany, Brazil, India and Japan to permanent member status, as well as an increase in the presence of African countries on the council. China has supported stronger representation of developing countries and has firmly opposed Japan's membership.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/204917 |title=US embassy cables: China reiterates 'red lines' |work=The Guardian |date=29 November 2010 |access-date=11 December 2011 |quote=[I]t would be difficult for the Chinese public to accept Japan as a permanent member of the UNSC. |archive-date=4 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204034559/http://www.theguardian.com/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/204917 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2017, it was reported that the G4 nations were willing temporarily to forgo [[United Nations Security Council veto power|veto power]] if granted [[Permanent members of the United Nations Security Council|permanent UNSC seats]].<ref>{{cite web|title=India Offers To Temporarily Forgo Veto Power If Granted Permanent UNSC Seat|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2017/03/08/india-offers-to-temporarily-forgo-veto-power-if-granted-permanen/|work=[[HuffPost]]|access-date=9 March 2017|archive-date=8 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308181726/http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2017/03/08/india-offers-to-temporarily-forgo-veto-power-if-granted-permanen/|url-status=live}}</ref> In September 2017, [[US Representatives|US representatives]] [[Ami Bera]] and [[Frank Pallone]] introduced a resolution (H.Res.535) in the [[US House of Representatives]] ([[115th United States Congress]]), seeking support for the elevation of [[India]] to permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council.<ref name="US Congress India UNSC">{{cite web|title=US congressmen move resolution in support of India's UN security council claim|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/us-congressmen-move-resolution-in-support-of-india-s-un-security-council-claim/story-EMDxUAGQjsP8PYFgcBWeFN.html|work=[[Hindustan Times]]|date=27 September 2017|access-date=30 September 2017|archive-date=1 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001002149/http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/us-congressmen-move-resolution-in-support-of-india-s-un-security-council-claim/story-EMDxUAGQjsP8PYFgcBWeFN.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Whilst discussions on expanding permanent membership to individual nations such as the G4 continue, alternative proposals have been put forward to reconsider the structure of the Security Council. The Noble World Foundation (NWF) proposes a novel approach, suggesting that UNSC membership and veto power be shifted from individual states to sovereignty-pooling organizations like the European Union (EU). This proposal aligns with the UNSC's practice of regionally-based selection of non-permanent members, aiming to improve the council's decision-making and effectiveness. The EU serves as a primary example of such pooled sovereignty, especially following the European Court of Justice's 1964 ruling that established the precedence of EU law over national laws of its member states. The NWF advocates that regional entities like the EU could be eligible for UN membership in the Security Council, enabling a significant reform without necessitating an amendment to the UN Charter.<ref>{{cite web |title=The urgent need for UNSC reform: A path to global peace". India Post |url=https://indiapost.com/the-urgent-need-for-unsc-reform-a-path-to-global-peace/ |website=India Post |date=15 December 2023 |access-date=15 December 2023 |archive-date=21 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231221065201/https://indiapost.com/the-urgent-need-for-unsc-reform-a-path-to-global-peace/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Union |first1=The European |title=The European Union: The World's Biggest Sovereignty Experiment", CFR World 101 |date=14 February 2023 |url=https://world101.cfr.org/understanding-international-system/building-blocks/european-union-worlds-biggest-sovereignty |publisher=The European Union |access-date=21 December 2023 |archive-date=21 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231221065204/https://world101.cfr.org/understanding-international-system/building-blocks/european-union-worlds-biggest-sovereignty |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2025, at the [[17th BRICS summit|17th BRICS Summit]] in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's outgoing BRICS president, President [[Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva]], and India's prime minister [[Narendra Modi]] emphasized their shared ambition to secure permanent membership on the UNSC. Modi highlighted the need for reforming the UNSC to enhance its credibility and effectiveness by better representing the Global South, noting that many key economies remain excluded from decision-making. Both leaders affirmed that reforming the UNSC would be a priority for India during its upcoming [[BRICS]] presidency in 2026.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Iglesias |first1=Simone |last2=Carvalho |first2=Daniel |date=2025-07-08 |title=Brazil's Lula Hosts Modi in Bid to Turn India Into a Major Trade Partner |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-08/lula-pushes-to-turn-brics-buddy-modi-into-major-trade-partner |access-date=2025-07-10 |work=Bloomberg}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-07 |title=BRICS leaders condemn April 22 Pahalgam attack: On terror, zero tolerance |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/brics-leaders-condemn-jk-pahalgam-attack-on-terror-zero-tolerance-10110505/ |access-date=2025-07-10 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref>

== Critiques ==
Critiques of the Security Council typically focus around the disproportionate influence that the veto power gives to the permanent members. The ability of a single permanent member to thwart the making and implementation of the collective will of the rest of the international community has given rise to criticisms about a lack of democratic accountability.

== See also ==
{{Portal|Politics|Law}}
* [[Use of force]]
* [[United Nations Command]]
* [[Law of war]] (or [[international humanitarian law]])
* [[Reform of the United Nations]]
* [[Small Five Group]], a group formed to improve the working methods of the Security Council
* [[United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs]], provides secretarial support to the Security Council
* [[United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee]], a standing committee of the Security Council
* [[Passblue|PassBlue]]

== Explanatory notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

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== Further reading ==
{{refbegin|35em}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Bailey |first1=Sydney D. |last2=Daws |first2=Sam |year=1998 |title=The Procedure of the UN Security Council |edition=3rd |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-828073-6}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bosco |first=David L. |author-link=David Bosco |year=2009 |title=Five to Rule Them All: The UN Security Council and the Making of the Modern World |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-532876-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/fivetorulethemal00bosc}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Cockayne |first1=James |last2=Mikulaschek |first2=Christoph |last3=Perry |first3=Chris |year=2010 |title=The United Nations Security Council and Civil War: First Insights from a New Dataset |url=http://www.ipinst.org/publication/policy-papers/detail/298-the-united-nations-security-council-and-civil-war-first-insights-from-a-new-dataset.html |location=New York |publisher=International Peace Institute |access-date=8 February 2016 |archive-date=18 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140418051722/http://ipinst.org/publication/policy-papers/detail/298-the-united-nations-security-council-and-civil-war-first-insights-from-a-new-dataset.html |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Grieger |first=Gisela |title=Reform of the UN Security Council |year=2013 |url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/bibliotheque/briefing/2013/130451/LDM_BRI(2013)130451_REV1_EN.pdf |publisher=Library of the European Parliament |access-date=8 February 2016 |archive-date=15 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160615203132/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/bibliotheque/briefing/2013/130451/LDM_BRI(2013)130451_REV1_EN.pdf |url-status=live}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hannay |first=David |author-link=David Hannay, Baron Hannay of Chiswick |year=2008 |title=New World Disorder: The UN after the Cold War – An Insider's View |location=London |publisher=I.B. Tauris |isbn=978-1-84511-719-1}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hurd |first=Ian |year=2007 |title=After Anarchy: Legitimacy and Power in the United Nations Security Council |location=Princeton, New Jersey |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-12866-5}}
* {{cite book |last1=Köchler |first1=Hans |author-link1=Hans Köchler |year=1991 |title=The Voting Procedure in the United Nations Security Council: Examining a Normative Contradiction in the UN Charter and its Consequences on International Relations |url=http://i-p-o.org/Koechler-Voting_Procedure-UN_Security_Council.pdf |series=Studies in International Relations |volume=17 |location=Vienna |publisher=International Progress Organization |isbn=978-3-900704-10-0 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060906014909/http://i-p-o.org/Koechler-Voting_Procedure-UN_Security_Council.pdf |archive-date=6 September 2006 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |year=2008 |editor-last1=Lowe |editor-first1=Vaughan |editor-link1=Vaughan Lowe |editor-last2=Roberts |editor-first2=Adam |editor-link2=Adam Roberts (scholar) |editor-last3=Welsh |editor-first3=Jennifer |editor-link3=Jennifer Welsh |editor-last4=Zaum |editor-first4=Dominik |title=The United Nations Security Council and War: The Evolution of Thought and Practice since 1945 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-953343-5}}
* {{Cite book |last=Malone |first=David |author-link=David M. Malone |year=1998 |title=Decision-Making in the UN Security Council: The Case of Haiti, 1990–1997 |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |isbn=978-0-19-829483-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/decisionmakingin0000malo}}
* {{Cite book |last=Matheson |first=Michael J. |year=2006 |title=Council Unbound: The Growth of UN Decision Making on Conflict and Postconflict Issues after the Cold War |location=Washington |publisher=US Institute of Peace Press |isbn=978-1-929223-78-7}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Roberts |first1=Adam |author-link=Adam Roberts (scholar) |last2=Zaum |first2=Dominik |year=2008 |title=Selective Security: War and the United Nations Security Council since 1945 |journal=Strategic Survey: The Annual Review of World Affairs |series=Adelphi Paper |volume=395 |location=Abingdon, England |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-47472-6 |issn=0567-932X}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Vreeland |first1=James |author-link=James Vreeland |last2=Dreher |first2=Axel |author-link2=Axel Dreher |year=2014 |title=The Political Economy of the United Nations Security Council: Money and Influence |location=Cambridge, England |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-51841-3}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official website}} {{in lang|en|fr|es|ar|ru|zh}}
* [http://research.un.org/en/docs/sc UN Security Council Research Guide]
* [http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/index.htm Global Policy Forum&nbsp;– UN Security Council]
* [http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/ Security Council Report]&nbsp;– information and analysis on the council's activities
** [https://www.whatsinblue.org/ What's In Blue] – a series of insights on evolving Security Council actions
* [http://www.centerforunreform.org/ Center for UN Reform Education&nbsp;– information on current reform issues at the United Nations]
* [http://www.undemocracy.com/ UN Democracy: hyperlinked transcripts of the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council]

{{UN Security Council}}
{{United Nations}}
{{United Nations Security Council elections}}
{{UN Charter}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:United Nations Security Council| ]]
[[Category:International security]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1946]]
[[Category:United Nations organs]]