Permanent members of the United Nations Security Council

The permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

The permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, also known as the Permanent Five, Big Five, or P5, include the following five governments: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The members represent the five great powers considered the victors of World War II.[1] Each of the permanent members has the power to veto, enabling them to prevent the adoption of any "substantive" draft Council resolution, regardless of the level of international support for the draft.

Current members

Country Current state representation Since Former state representation Leader Current representative
 China[2]  People's Republic of China 1971 Republic of China (1945–49) (on the Mainland)
Republic of China (1949–71) (on Taiwan)		 President: Xi Jinping
Premier: Li Keqiang		 Liu Jieyi[3]
 France French Fifth Republic 1958 Provisional Government of the French Republic (1945–46)
 French Fourth Republic (1946–58)		 President: François Hollande
Prime Minister: Manuel Valls		 François Delattre[3]
 Russia  Russian Federation 1992  Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1945–91) President: Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin
Prime Minister: Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev		 Vitaly Churkin[3]
 United Kingdom  United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 1945 — Monarch: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Theresa May		 Matthew Rycroft[3]
 United States  United States of America 1945 — President: Barack Obama
Secretary of State: John Forbes Kerry		 Samantha Power
The original permanent members of the United Nations Security Council in 1945 (dark blue) with their respective colonies and other holdings shown (pale blue).

At the UN's founding in 1945, the five permanent members of the Security Council were the French Republic, the Republic of China, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union. There have been two seat changes since then, although not reflected in Article 23 of the United Nations Charter as it has not been accordingly amended:

Leaders of the five permanent member states at a summit in 2000. Clockwise from front left: Chinese President Jiang Zemin, U.S. President Bill Clinton, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and French President Jacques Chirac.

Additionally, France reformed its provisional government into the French Fourth Republic in 1946 and later into the French Fifth Republic in 1958, both under the leadership of Charles de Gaulle. France maintained its seat as there was no change in its international status or recognition, although many of its overseas possessions eventually became independent.

The five permanent members of the Security Council were the victorious powers in World War II and have maintained the world's most powerful military forces ever since. They annually top the list of countries with the highest military expenditures; in 2011, they spent over US$1 trillion combined on defense, accounting for over 60% of global military expenditures (the U.S. alone accounting for over 40%). They are also five of the world's six largest arms exporters, along with Germany[4] and are the only nations officially recognized as "nuclear-weapon states" under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), though there are other states known or believed to be in possession of nuclear weapons.

Veto power

The "power of veto" refers to the veto power wielded solely by the permanent members, enabling them to prevent the adoption of any "substantive" draft Council resolution, regardless of the level of international support for the draft. The veto does not apply to procedural votes, which is significant in that the Security Council's permanent membership can vote against a "procedural" draft resolution, without necessarily blocking its adoption by the Council.

The veto is exercised when any permanent member—the so-called "P5"—casts a "negative" vote on a "substantive" draft resolution. Abstention or absence from the vote by a permanent member does not prevent a draft resolution from being adopted.

Expansion

“ The UN Security Council reform, being debated since two decades is too long overdue and the necessary expansion must be made considering how much the world has changed. ”
— Ban Ki-Moon[5]

The G4 nations: Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan. Most support one another's bids for permanent seats on the Security Council, but are heavily opposed by various other member nations of the UN.[6]

There have been proposals suggesting the introduction of new permanent members. The candidates usually mentioned are Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan. They comprise the group of G4 nations, mutually supporting one another's bids for permanent seats. Britain, France and Russia support G4 membership in the UN Security Council.[7] This sort of reform has traditionally been opposed by the "Uniting for Consensus" group, which is composed primarily of nations who are regional rivals and economic competitors of the G4. The group is led by Italy and Spain (opposing Germany), Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina (opposing Brazil), Pakistan (opposing India), and South Korea (opposing Japan), in addition to Turkey, Indonesia and others. Since 1992, Italy and other members of the group have instead proposed semi-permanent seats or the expansion of the number of temporary seats.[8]

Most of the leading candidates for permanent membership are regularly elected onto the Security Council by their respective groups: Japan was elected for eleven two-year terms, Brazil for ten terms, and Germany for three terms. India has been elected to the council seven times in total, with the most recent successful bid being in 2010 after a gap of almost twenty years since 1991–92.

As of 2013, the current "P5" members of the Security Council, along with the G4, account for eight of the world's ten largest defense budgets, according to SIPRI.

Country comparison

UNSC Member state People's Republic of China
(China)		 French Republic
(France)		 Russian Federation
(Russia)		 United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland
(United Kingdom)		 United States
of America
(United States)
Coat of Arms
Flag China France Russia United Kingdom United States
Populations 1,368,260,000 (February 2015 est.)[9] 66,628,000 (2016)[10] 146,068,400 (2014) 64,511,000 322,097,703 (November 2015) (3rd)[11]
Area 9,640,011 km² (3,717,813 sq mi) 674,843  km2 (260,558 sq mi) 17,125,242 km² (6,612,093 sq mi) 243,610 km² (94,060 sq mi) 9,833,634 km2 (3,796,787 sq mi)[12]
Population density 140/km² (363/sq mi) 99/km2 (256/sq mi) 8.3/km² (21.5/sq mi) 255.6/km2 (98.7/sq mi) 34.2/km2 (87.4/sq mi)
Time zones 1 1 11 1 6
Capital Beijing Paris Moscow London Washington, D.C.
Largest cities Shanghai
Beijing
Chengdu
Shenzhen
Guangzhou		 Paris
Marseille
Lyon
Nice
Toulouse		 Moscow
Saint Petersburg
Kazan
Yekaterinburg
Novosibirsk		 London
Manchester
Birmingham
Glasgow
Edinburgh		 New York City
Los Angeles
Chicago
Houston
Phoenix
Continent Asia Europe Europe/Asia Europe North America/Oceania
Government Unitary socialist one-party state Unitary semi-presidential
constitutional republic		 Federal semi-presidential
democratic constitutional republic		 Unitary parliamentary democratic
constitutional monarchy		 Federal presidential
constitutional republic
Ruling political party Communist Party of China Socialist Party United Russia Conservative Party Democratic Party
Official languages Mandarin Chinese French Russian English None at federal level, but English de facto
Economic alliance SCO EU
G7
G8
OECD		 CIS
EEU
G8
SCO		 EU
G7
G8
OECD		 G7
G8
OECD
Military alliance SCO NATO CSTO
SCO		 NATO ANZUS
NATO
Subdivisions with highest GDP Guangdong
$1.11 trillion (2014)		 Île-de-France
$845 billion (2011)		 Moscow
$340 billion (2012) 		England
$2.69 trillion (2013)		 California
$2.28 trillion (2014)
GDP per capita (nominal) $8,141 (73rd) $37,653 (21st) $9,243 (64th) $43,902 (13th) $56,084 (6th)
GDP per capita (PPP) $14,340 (84th) $41,476 (26th) $25,965 (48th) $41,499 (25th) $56,084 (11th)
GDP (nominal)[13] $11.38 trillion (2016)[14] (2nd) $2.422 trillion (2015)[15] (6th) $1.178 trillion (2016)[16] (12th) $2.679 trillion (2015)[17] (5th) $18.558 trillion (2016)[18] (1st)
GDP (PPP)[19] $20.85 trillion (2016)[20] (1st) $2.647 trillion (2015)[21] (10th) $3.493 trillion (2016)[22] (6th) $2.849 trillion (2015)[23] (9th) $18.558 trillion (2016)[24] (2nd)
Military expenditures $145.8 billion (2015)[25] (2nd) $46.8 billion (2015)[26] (7th) $65.6 billion (2015)[27] (4th) $56.2 billion (2015)[28] (5th) $597.5 billion (2015)[29] (1st)

Heads of State and Government representing the UNSC, as of 2016

References

  1. ↑ The UN Security Council, retrieved 2012-05-15
  2. ↑ Resolution NO.2758 is contradicted by the Article 23 on UN Charter
  3. ↑ Nichols, Michelle (2012-07-27). "United Nations fails to agree landmark arms-trade treaty". Reuters. NewsDaily. Retrieved 2012-07-28. One of the reasons this month's negotiations are taking place is that the United States, the world's biggest arms trader accounting for over 40 percent of global conventional arms transfers, reversed U.S. policy on the issue after Barack Obama became president and decided in 2009 to support a treaty....The other five top arms suppliers are Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia.
  4. ↑ UNSC Reform is Too Long Overdue: Ban Ki-Moon
  5. ↑ "Countries Welcome Work Plan as Security Council Reform Process Commences New Phase | Center for UN Reform Education". CenterforUNReform.org. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
  6. ↑ de Nesnera, Andre (1 November 2006). "UN Security Council Reform May Shadow Annan's Legacy". Voice of America. Archived from the original on 2006-11-02. Retrieved 2012-07-28.
  7. ↑ "Italian Model" (PDF). Global Policy Forum. 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 19, 2009.
  8. ↑ "The World Factbook".
  9. ↑ INSEE, Government of France. "Évolution de la population jusqu'en 2014 – champs France hors Mayotte" (in French). Retrieved January 2014. Check date values in: |access-date= (help) (French departments without Mayotte: 65,821,000 inhabitants)
    INSEE, Government of France. "Populations légales dans les collectivités d'outre-mer et Mayotte". Retrieved January 2014. Check date values in: |access-date= (help) (Mayotte : 212,645 inhabitants – overseas collectivities : 337,191 – new Caledonia : 245,580)
    Total (French departments+French overseas collectivities+New Caledonia)
  10. ↑ "U.S. & World Population Clocks". Us Census Bureau. May 2012. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  11. ↑ "United States". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects". IMF.
  13. ↑ "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects". IMF.
  14. ↑ "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects".
  15. ↑ "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects".
  16. ↑ "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects"
  17. ↑ "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects". IMF.
  18. ↑ "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects". IMF.
  19. ↑ "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects". IMF.
  20. ↑ "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects"
  21. ↑ "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects"
  22. ↑ "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects"
  23. ↑ "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects". IMF.
  24. ↑ "Top 15 Defence Budgets 2015". International Institute for Strategic Studies. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  25. ↑ "Top 15 Defence Budgets 2015". International Institute for Strategic Studies.
  26. ↑ "Top 15 Defence Budgets 2015". International Institute for Strategic Studies
  27. ↑ "Top 15 Defence Budgets 2015". International Institute for Strategic Studies.
  28. ↑ "Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2015" (PDF). Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
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