Permanent Seat Research Articles

The UNSC at a Crossroad: Urgency and Necessity for Reform

Abstract: The UN Security Council plays a crucial role in maintaining global peace and security. However, the Syrian Civil War and data reveal that the abuse of the veto and the decline in the representativeness and legitimacy of the permanent members hinder its effectiveness. The international community needs to reconsider the powers and structure of the UN Security Council, including reforming the veto system, the permanent seats, and the distribution of powers within the Security Council and other United Nations bodies. Furthermore, this study proposes several reforms, such as limiting the scope of veto use, especially in cases of conflicts threatening international peace, and introducing regional representation to better reflect the geopolitical realities of the 21st century. Additionally, the International Court of Justice should be empowered to interpret the UN Charter, enhancing the role of the Secretariat, and granting the General Assembly greater oversight over the Security Councils actions. These reforms aim to increase the UN Security Councils legitimacy, fairness, and capacity to act decisively in maintaining peace and security, ensuring it remains an effective body in the evolving landscape of international relations.

Developments in Japanese policy towards the African continent for the period (1946 - 2003)

The topic of Japanese policy towards the African continent is one of the topics that has not been adequately highlighted, so this study came to explain the developments of Japanese policy during the period of the study, showing through it Japan’s policy interests in Africa and the tools for implementing them, as Japanese interests range between what is economic and what is The basis is the Japanese approach to obtain natural resources and wealth and open markets after the rapid growth achieved by Japanese industries, and what is political, which aims to restructure the Security Council in order to obtain a permanent seat and for Japan to take a greater role befitting its economic and political status in global issues. And what is security, which aims to combat piracy, achieve maritime security, and maintain peace to preserve its strategic interests on the continent.

Towards a World of Peace and Development: Expansion and Inclusion

This paper analyzes the problems existing in the current UN Security Council mechanism: the mechanism is rigid, the binding force is limited, and the representative is lacking. The authors propose corresponding reforms to better constrain the use of force between states: increase the membership of the Security Council within the existing framework, create new permanent seats, and devolve some of the Council's powers to UN trusteeship bodies. As the topic of our paper says: "Expansion and inclusion" is the core of the whole article and the value we want to convey. After combining the innovative membership expansion proposals put forward by regional powers such as Germany, Italy, Japan and India, we put forward a new set of proposals with our own views. Based on the legal provisions put forward by these countries, we add a point of view: We will give full play to the functions of the Trusteeship Council so that this body will no longer be idle. The successful implementation of these ideas will do more good than harm for countries to restrain the use of force. Countries will be more effectively restrained in the use of force, and the tragedies of Ukraine and Syria will not be repeated again. In the context of globalization, the effective implementation of these proposals will lead the world to peace and development.

Options and Paths for Breaking the Deadlock over the Veto Power of the Permanent Members of the Security Council

The veto power of the permanent members of the Security Council has always been a topic of intense discussion, and its historical and complex characteristics mean that it cannot be easily resolved. Veto reform proposals for permanent members of the Security Council have been floating around the international community, but no real changes have been made. Based on the background of the veto, the current situation of the veto abuse, the reform of the veto mechanism, the increase of permanent seats, and the establishment of the monitoring mechanism, this paper makes a critical analysis of the Security Council and puts forward suggestions for reform. This paper proposes the second negative, international organizations as individuals to enter the UN Security Council and so on, which provides a new way of thinking for the reform of the Security Council. The purpose is to promote the fairness and justice of the Security Council, meet the vital interests of more countries, and enable the Security Council to better perform its duties and maintain peace and security of the international community.

Populist Inclusion of Ecuadorian Emigrants under Rafael Correa’s Presidency

Abstract This article studies Rafael Correa’s populist inclusion of Ecuadorian emigrants. It unpacks Correa’s inclusionary populism toward the emigrants at symbolic, political, and material levels. The article utilizes a qualitative content analysis of Correa’s weekly TV show, the Citizen Link (2007–2017). The findings reveal that Correa considered the emigrants as part of “the people,” who were forced to leave the country after the 1999 Banking Crisis. In line with his left-wing populist leadership, Correa viewed them as the victims of neoliberalism and the financial elite. Moreover, Correa politically included the emigrants by extending their voting rights and creating permanent seats in the National Assembly. Finally, Correa materially included the Ecuadorian emigrants by increasing the number of embassies, consulates, and cultural houses as well as facilitating the emigrants’ return. These findings have implications for the relationship between populism and emigration in Latin America and other migrant-sending regions.

MUSEUM OF THE SANDOMIERZ REGION:GENESIS AND DEVELOPMENT

The Museum of the Sandomierz Region wasone of the more thriving tourism-and-sightseeing-relatedinstitutions of the Second Polish Republic. The paper’s aimis to show the history of its establishment and developmentin the first years of its operation, previously in literatureshown only in very general terms, without resorting to allthe sources. The first historic piece: an urn excavated closeto Linów was donated for the collection by AleksanderPatkowski nicknamed ‘father of Polish regionalism’.An attempt is made to reconstruct the foundation ofthe Museum’s first collection. Table 1 shows the dynamicsof the acquisitions in subsequent years. Apart from singledonations, Museum’s heritage pieces came from amateurexcavations or individual donors, and with time artefacts wereprovided mainly by professional archaeological research. Theartefacts were considered worthy of display, that is why, in1921, the Museum was opened in a provisional facility. In 1923,a catalogue of the archaeological collection was published.The Museum proved to be successful logistically and interms of tourism and regionalism, this demonstrated by theturnout in the first years of its operation shown in Table 2. Theproblem of the lack of Museum’s permanent seat was solvedthrough acquiring a plot of land and having its own premisesraised. The story of the opening of the seat of the branch ofthe Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society, PTK, and of theMuseum of the Sandomierz Region in 1925 is presented inthe paper. It was the first in Poland building owned by PTK,and the Museum took up much of its space. The processof organizing the institution climaxed with a permanentexhibition having been opened to the public. The Museumof the Sandomierz Region was the fourteenth institution ofthe type run by PTK after 1918. In the 1930s, it turned intoan icon of Polish tourism-and-sightseeing-related museology,while the presented reconstruction of its beginning revealsnumerous facts from the history of the activity of Polishsociety in the independent state.

Still a great power? Russia’s status dilemmas post-Ukraine war

ABSTRACT This article examines the impact the war in Ukraine has had on Russia’s great power status. Post-Soviet Russia has been one of the most active status-seekers and sought to re-establish its rank among the existing great power status community. In its claim to high status, Russia has historically relied on traditional status markers, including its permanent seat at the UN Security Council, diplomatic prominence at the summits with other great powers, and the strength of its military. However, as this paper shows, Moscow’s fateful choice to launch a war against Ukraine has led to considerable slippage of its status. Russia now struggles to get things done at international fora and has also faced increased diplomatic isolation. Moreover, the war – especially the struggles of the Russian armed forces – challenged Russia’s claim of great military power and an exclusive security provider in the former Soviet space.

"A Sixth Part of the World": The Career of a Spatial Metaphor in Russia and the Soviet Union (1837–2021)

"A Sixth Part of the World"The Career of a Spatial Metaphor in Russia and the Soviet Union (1837–2021) Frithjof Benjamin Schenk (bio) On 23 December 2021, President Vladimir Putin of Russia held his annual large-scale press conference. It lasted almost four hours and was perfectly staged. Seated alone at an imposing desk, Putin took questions from hand-picked Russian and international journalists. Behind the president's podium, a massive map of the Russian Federation was projected onto a screen.1 The image served to remind those present, and those watching at home and around the world, that this was the political leader of a nation whose territory extends across more than 17 million square kilometers and 11 time zones. In other words, it served as a political statement, communicating pride in a literally great nation to the home audience and demanding respect for a great power from those watching abroad. The knowledge of living in the world's largest country had previously been a key performative point of reference for both the tsarist empire and the Soviet state, forming an integral component of concepts of imperial and national identity. For the few prominent voices that cursed the state's size and figured it as a burden, a greater number drew from it a sense of national pride and an imperial claim to dominion. Occasionally, pointing to the size of the national and imperial territory constituted a compensatory act that sought to distract both speaker and addressee from the fact that Russia, or the USSR, was not up there with the "big players" in other arenas of international competition, be that economic power or socioeconomic development. We continue to witness the use of this strategy today, with Putin's press conference of December 2021 providing an illustrative example. Russia is once more asserting the status of a great power, staking a [End Page 349] claim to be respected and feared on the international stage. In view of the lack of economic clout backing up the international ambitions of a country whose GDP is lower than that of Italy, Russia's government draws its claim to dominion from other resources: its status as a military and nuclear power, its permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, and the sheer size of its territory.2 Taking a historical perspective covering the tsarist empire and the USSR and noting developments in the Russian Federation up to the present day, this article examines the interrelationship between discourses around the size of the national territory and conceptions of collective identity. The object of this case study is a history of the spatial metaphor of Russia/the USSR as "a sixth part of the world" from the 19th to the early 21st centuries. I argue that the idea of living in a country whose territory covers one-sixth of the earth has been a foundational element in the national and imperial self-image of Russians since the 1830s, strikingly surviving the historical cesuras of 1917 and 1991 relatively intact despite all the dramatic differences in the political forms taken by the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and the Russian Federation and despite the fluctuations in the size of Russian/Soviet territory during the period under consideration. The image of Russia (and the Soviet Union) as a sixth of the world is part of the longue durée of the country's history over the last two centuries. Interestingly, historical research has yet to produce a close study of this spatial metaphor and of its strong identity-forging power. This article seeks to fill the gap, an endeavor that appears promising for three key reasons. First, the history of this metaphor may serve as a prism for the exploration of the relationship linking spatial discourses and imagined geographies to Russian conceptions of national or imperial identity from tsarist times to the post-Soviet era.3 Second, this history provides insights into how Soviet ideologues in the 1920s succeeded in presenting the new state as the antithesis to the [End Page 350] hated tsarist empire while simultaneously co-opting important elements of imperial self-presentation. Third, the discursive career of this image can cast new...

Review: Philip II of Spain and the Architecture of Empire

Review: <i>Philip II of Spain and the Architecture of Empire</i>

A study on India’s permanent Seat in UNSC: Prospects and Challenges

In 1945, the United Nations founded the Security Council to ensure global stability, protect civilians, and foster goodwill among nations. After 76 years, the original 51 member nations of the UNSC have been joined by 193. The UNSC does not adequately reflect the developing countries and its demands, hence reforms are urgently needed in light of the shifting global dynamics. Due to the current veto power that is shared among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, and France), the council is prejudiced and unrepresentative in its structure. Unresolved civil wars, security issues, and the current delay in declaring Coronavirus a pandemic all speak to the UNSC's lack of confidence. Therefore, the urgent need for changes and extension of the Security Council to strengthen its credibility and effectiveness has been highlighted by such obstacles and failures.&#x0D; Abstract in Hindi Language:&#x0D; 1945 में, संयुक्त राष्ट्र ने वैश्विक स्थिरता सुनिश्चित करने, नागरिकों की रक्षा करने और राष्ट्रों के बीच सद्भावना को बढ़ावा देने के लिए सुरक्षा परिषद की स्थापना की। 76 वर्षों के बाद, UNSC के मूल 51 सदस्य राष्ट्र 193 में शामिल हो गए हैं। UNSC विकासशील देशों और इसकी मांगों को पर्याप्त रूप से प्रतिबिंबित नहीं करता है, इसलिए वैश्विक गतिशीलता में बदलाव के आलोक में सुधारों की तत्काल आवश्यकता है। संयुक्त राष्ट्र सुरक्षा परिषद (चीन, संयुक्त राज्य अमेरिका, यूनाइटेड किंगडम, रूस और फ्रांस) के पांच स्थायी सदस्यों के बीच साझा की गई वर्तमान वीटो शक्ति के कारण, परिषद अपनी संरचना में पूर्वाग्रही और गैर-प्रतिनिधित्व वाली है। अनसुलझे गृहयुद्ध, सुरक्षा मुद्दे, और कोरोनावायरस को महामारी घोषित करने में मौजूदा देरी, ये सभी UNSC के आत्मविश्वास की कमी को बयां करते हैं। इसलिए, सुरक्षा परिषद की विश्वसनीयता और प्रभावशीलता को मजबूत करने के लिए परिवर्तन और विस्तार की तत्काल आवश्यकता ऐसी बाधाओं और विफलताओं द्वारा उजागर की गई है।&#x0D; Keywords: UNSC, गृहयुद्ध, संयुक्त राष्ट्र, सुरक्षा मुद्दे

La guerra de Ucrania, las Naciones Unidas y el Derecho Internacional: algunas certezas sistémicas insostenibles

In the context of the war in Ukraine, these pages aims to offer an initial reflection on some weaknesses - or systemic certainties - of the international legal order. A first systemic certainty is the limited or conditional commitment of some states to international law and its essential principles. A second systemic certainty lies in the perspective of state perceptions of international security and, especially, of each state’s own security. A third systemic certainty is the structural weaknesses of the United Nations when it comes to offering a collective and institutional response to an aggression such as the one that occurred in Ukraine, particularly if the aggressor is a state with a permanent seat on the Security Council. A fourth systemic certainty is that barbarism and horror in the context of armed conflict is still present and that war is always a humanitarian disaster. Finally, a fifth systemic certainty is the capacity for overprotection that a state in possession of atomic weapons or other weapons of mass destruction achieves.

Winning a seat at the table: Strategic routes by emerging powers to gain privileges in exclusive formal clubs

ABSTRACT Established powers enjoy privileges in world politics coveted by emerging powers. These privileges vary in their level of institutionalization: full formal privileges, partial formal privileges, and informal privileges. We identify two alternative strategic routes through which emerging powers target these three types of privileges: a top-down and a bottom-up route. We analyze two factors that impact the choice between these two routes: restrictiveness of eligibility criteria for winning privileges, and the expected levels of opposition by both established powers and outsiders. We examine the impact of these factors on two cases in which India negotiated privileges: India’s top-down campaign to win a permanent seat on the UN Security Council; and India’s bottom-up campaign to enter the nuclear club as a de facto nuclear weapon state. Highly restrictive eligibility criteria along with high levels of opposition drove India to gradually seek nuclear privileges through a bottom-up route.

Status and the Federal Republic of Germany: an international exception?

ABSTRACT An avoidance of overt status-seeking behaviour contrasts the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) with many other states. Does the FRG desire international status? Is it substantially different? This article contends that the FRG appreciates status and acquired it through economic and civil achievement, and relatively subtle diplomatic and political means. It does not engage in blatant status pursuit nor ostentatiously impress that which it has. Yet there are rarer examples of more robust status defence, lending insight into an evolving national persona. The article explores the status concept and variations in status as a political motivation. It then examines the FRG in general and specific contexts: sport, the goal of a permanent UNSC seat, and bilateral relations with the USA.

Editor's Note

Editor's Note

Ein ständiger Sitz der Europäischen Union im UN-Sicherheitsrat

A Permanent Seat for the European Union in the UN Security Council The article develops constructive standards to implement a permanent seat for the European Union in the UN Security Council in contrast to regular rejections in legal scholarship. The author argues that a complementary UN membership should be established, which would suit the basic structure of the Security Council and the General Assembly. European Union law provides suitable instruments for the effective exercise of the permanent seat. Based on the example of German constitutional law, the state analogue appearance of the European Union would have to ensure that its Member States maintain their own capacity to act in the United Nations to an impactful degree both in the process of disintegration and in a state of reduced membership rights.

The Prospect of India’s Permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council

The Prospect of India’s Permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council

INDIA IN UNSC: A CLAIM FOR A PERMANENT SEAT

India has been associated with the UN since its formation in 1945.It began its contribution as a part of Common wealth Nations and went on to contribute after independence till now. In its 75 year long and rich association, it becomes important to study its successes and failures to assess the veracity of it staking claim for a permanent membership in the UNSC. India’s contribution at diplomatic level has been that of interplay between the alignment of international principles on security and peace and its own interests over a period of time. Often big and small powers including the UNGA turned to India for its support.

The UN Security Council Permanent Membership: The Troubling Trend of Expansion and Hegemony

The paper is on the UN Security Council (UNSC) permanent membership: The troubling trend of expansion and hegemony. The problem of UN Security Council, which is an exclusive nuclear club, whose powers are unchecked, with lack of true international representation and with powers to veto, is the dominance of the permanent members. The main objective of the study is to investigate an overview of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) permanent membership and examine the Troubling Trend of hegemony and the problem of expansion. The methodology is basically a qualitative and exploratory method, using text, newspapers. The study employs power politics theory as a tool for analysis. One major finding amongst others is that, there is a global hegemony of the permanent members of the Security Council. The permanent members block other member states of the UN, who seeks expansion or vies for permanent seat, through their powers of veto. This paper recommends the expansion of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) permanent membership to include Africa and other power centres for fair representation in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Brexit, Scotland and the UN Security Council

If Scotland, spurred by Brexit, becomes independent, it is conceivable that the United Kingdom will lose its permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

AN OVERVIEW OF INDIA-BAHRAIN TRADE RELATIONS

Indian-Bahrain relations go back centuries and both are close allies. The Monarchy, along with its GCC allies, is one of the world's most influential advocates of India's candidacy for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, according to Indian officials. In 2019-20, trade between India and Bahrain was USD 980.59 million. The wide Indian Diaspora in Bahrain is also the focus of debate as it is the foundation of India-Bahrain relationship. An effort has been made in this paper to examine the India’s trade relationship with Bahrain between 2011-2020. The study shows that India and Bahrain both have tremendous cooperation potential and therefore need to improve their trade diplomacy in order to establish a favourable trade facilitation climate. KEY WORDS: Indo-Bahrain relations, Trade relations, Foreign Trade, International Relations, Foreign Relations, International Trade