Abolishing The Veto Power
Cannot move forward without attacking veto power. Therefore, must aim to abolish veto power as part of reform proposal.
Abolishing The Veto Power
The comprehensive reform model, which was described above, is a proposal that is open to discussion. It is possible to make room for that (or another) model in our agenda and to hold a debate. However, abolishing the veto privilege is the essential starting point and most strategic goal for any reform model. After all, neither the above-described model nor any alternative approaches that may be proposed in the future can have any chance of success unless the five countries are stripped of their veto power. Likewise, engaging other questions instead or in addition to the question of the veto power would inevitably hinder any quest for reform. Therefore, the most crucial part of any reform plan must be to tackle and abolish the veto power.
It is not possible to take a single step forward in the absence of an all-out offensive against the veto power. Hence the need to strive to abolish the veto power as part of the above-mentioned or any alternative reform proposal.
Unfortunately, none of the reform proposals for the United Nations include even the slightest reference to abolishing the veto power. Yet the veto power is the root cause of the UN’s ineffectiveness. Instead, those reform plans overwhelmingly aim to increase the number of Security Council members. In other words, those states, which hope to have a seat at the table, merely demand similar privileges. To grant veto powers to more nations, however, would only serve to make the situation infinitely complicated and, ultimately, to render the UN more and more ineffective. Such new privileges would make the Security Council, which already suffers from ineffectiveness and a shortage of influence, less functional. Instead of granting such powers to more states, the international community must look for ways to completely abolish the veto power. After all, any reform attempt that does not problematize the veto power is doomed to failure.
To summarize, abolishing the veto power must be the first step toward a United Nations reform. The international community ought to subsequently build a new UN with an eye on comprehensive and principle proposals. Within that new framework, the General Assembly must play the role of a legislative assembly, whereas the Security Council should evolve into a board of executives. There will be no insoluble problems once those two steps are taken. All questions pertaining to reform can be solved as soon as those two steps are taken.