EDITORIAL: Restructuring the Security Council | Sept. 18, 2026

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1:28They have also become more complex, because more often than, not, superpowers are involved. The Security Council is the UN Agency tasked with conflict resolution. It is mandated by the UN Charter to call disputing parties to negotiate a settlement. If talks fail, it can authorize the deployment of a peacekeeping force to restore or maintain order. Early in its existence, the Council carried out its mandate successfully, negotiating it, and to wars in a number of countries. Today's conflicts are more difficult to resolve because of their geopolitical repercussions. There is no such thing as a local war anymore because the United States, China or Russia eventually backs one side or the other. And here's the rub. Those countries are the dominant members of the Security Council. Each one wields the power of the veto, which means any one of them can. Thumb down any initiative that runs counter to their interests. The three countries, along with France and the United Kingdom, have been occupying permanent seats in the Council for eight years. And together they have, invoked the veto power more than 300 times, Russia, and what used to be the Soviet Union, is the most frequent veto user, invoking it to block as many as 162 resolutions.

2:36The US comes in second with 93, resolutions blocked, China has wielded the veto 22 times, mainly against countries that recognized Taiwan. And last April, it joined Russia and rejecting a resolution aimed at reopening. The Strait of Hormuz, Guterres has exposed the Council's basic flaw, accusing its members of violating international law with impunity, and ultimately compromising its ability to carry out its mandate. It is this impunity that allows Israel to continue its genocide in Gaza and ethnic, cleansing in the occupied West Bank, he said. The US has used its veto to kill resolutions that condemn and penalize its staunch ally. Peace cannot be achieved in the Middle East without resolving the Palestinian. In the crisis, Guterres said, he also highlighted the urgent need for a ceasefire in Ukraine, which Russia objects, too, unless its demands are met. It is absolutely essential to reach a ceasefire in Ukraine and to create conditions too, move toward a just peace. Unfortunately, we see that war is going on and on and on, and we see devastating consequences for the global economy, Guterres said, the only way to correct the flaw is to restructure the Council.

3:43This is why the reform of the Security Council must be an absolute priority. Guterres said, power relations no longer correspond to the realities of the world, he added, expanding the Security Council's membership to include small member countries in. Asia and Africa should be a priority. Guterres is proposing two permanent seats for Africa and representation for countries in Asia other than China, a more even distribution as long overdue. The International Think Tank, Council on, Foreign Relations, considers the Council as an archaic institution that reflects the geopolitical realities of 1945, not those of the 21st century. As a result, the Council is increasingly viewed as illegitimate and ineffective. It's time to transform the Security Council from an exclusive club reserved only for, the global elite to an organization that gives equal representation to the billions that hold a bigger stake in the quest for world order and security. Quick question, when was the last time a display ad changed your mind? Now think about the last time a friend told you about something they loved. Different feeling, right?

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