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Ian Explains: Why Russia has a permanent seat on the UN Security Council
Why does Russia have a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council?
On August 1, the United States will take over the Security Council presidency and it has a lot of major issues on the agenda, including food security, human rights, and addressing ongoing humanitarian crises in Haiti and Sudan.
But with Russia a permanent, veto-wielding member of the Council, the chances of any major resolutions the United States proposes actually passing are pretty slim, Ian Bremmer explains on GZERO World.
To understand why Russia has a permanent seat, you have to go back to the creation of the UN in 1945. The winners of World War II–the Americans and the allies–built the UN, including the Security Council. The five permanent members? They’re the WWII winners: the US, UK, France, China, and the Soviet Union.
By 1948, allies had quickly turned to adversaries as the Iron Curtain went up. But it was too late–the Security Council was created, enshrined, and fundamentally broken, all within three years.
Eighty years after its creation, it’s clear the Council no longer reflects the current reality. Veto power in the hands of geopolitical rivals keeps it from passing meaningful resolutions, and there are no countries from Latin America, Africa, or the Caribbean with permanent seats.
“A Security Council that retains the power of the veto in the hands of a few will still lead us to war,” said Barbados Prime Minister during the 2022 UN General Assembly.
There’s no question that we need a more effective and inclusive body to protect international peace in the modern era. But can the UN’s 193 member states put aside their differences to create it?
Watch Ian Explains for the full breakdown, and for more on the US, watch GZERO World with Ian Bremmer on US public television and at gzeromedia.com/gzeroworld.
- Explaining: the history of the UN headquarters ›
- The UN turns 75 — is it still relevant? ›
- As Sudan war worsens, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield says UN must help ›
- UN official: Security Council Is “dysfunctional” - but UN is not ›
- UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Russia, human rights, & the Security Council presidency - GZERO Media ›
- Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Russia, Sudan & the power of diplomacy - GZERO Media ›
- Russia undermines everything the UN stands for, says Linda Thomas-Greenfield - GZERO Media ›
How to avoid World War III
On May 9, Vladimir Putin marked Russia's Victory Day in World War II by ... celebrating the invasion of Ukraine.
Putin has co-opted triumph against the Nazis to justify his aggression by claiming a delusional Nazi threat in Ukraine to justify the war. But this is nothing new.
Indeed, former Finnish PM Alexander Stubb says Russia never really moved on from World War II, relying on the narrative that "the rest of the world is out to get us" to drum up patriotic sentiment.
Talk about self-fulfilling prophecies: Finland and Sweden are about to join NATO, the West has responded swiftly with billions of dollars and weapons for Ukraine on top of tough sanctions against Russia, and some now want more than just a Russian withdrawal.
Russia, for its part, sees this as being under attack from NATO — and that's where the real danger is.
The goal of the West cannot and should not be the destruction of Russia’s military, because that’ll unleash World War III.
Watch the GZERO World episode: Beginning of Putin's end
Putin couldn't declare victory in Ukraine - so he changed the "war" objectives
For Michael McFaul, Vladimir Putin's May 9 Victory speech was a "nothing burger."
But there was something in there that signals his intentions in Ukraine, the former US ambassador to Russia tells Ian Bremmer on GZERO World.
McFaul says Putin changed the "phraseology" he's been using for the last two months when referring to the Donbas, where perhaps he now knows he can't prevail.
For the first time, Putin very deliberately talked about the Donbas and other contested parts of Ukraine as being part of Russian territory — and that means Russia will try to annex them.
"That is new. That is something qualitatively different than [...] the way he's been speaking about the war so far."
Putin invasion of Ukraine: Worst outbreak of war since 1939
Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Sweden, shares his perspective from Europe on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The worst has come to happen. The Putin invasion of Ukraine that we now see unfolding is the worst outbreak of war that we've had since Hitler invaded Poland in September of 1939. The same motives, the same technique, the same lies leading up to it. What will happen now remains to be seen. Sanctions will have to be imposed very fast and very thoroughly, although that particular policy of deterrence has obviously failed, but it was good to try. We must help the fight in Ukraine. We must treat the Putin regime in the way that it deserves in all single respects. And we are heading bleak days when it comes to the security of Europe in the next few days. Transatlantic solidarity will be absolutely key.
Australian, British aid workers killed in blast in Solomon Islands
SYDNEY (REUTERS) - Two men from Australia and Britain who worked for an aid agency that helps to dispose of unexploded bombs were killed in a blast in Solomon Islands, their employer said on Monday (Sept 21).
WWII submarine discovered off Thailand coast
BANGKOK • In the murky waters of the Strait of Malacca, about 144km south of Phuket, Thailand, four divers discovered a World War II submarine that was scuttled 77 years ago and is now teeming with marine life.
History still clouds ties between Tokyo and Seoul
TOKYO • South Korean President Moon Jae-in offered the olive branch of dialogue with Japan yesterday amid rapidly chilling relations, but an imminent breakthrough seems unlikely given that neither is willing to budge on positions they hold steadfast.
Emperor expresses deep remorse
Japan marked its defeat in World War II yesterday with a minute of silence at the stroke of noon - the exact moment 75 years ago when Emperor Showa announced the surrender on radio - as Cabinet ministers visited the controversial Yasu-kuni Shrine on the war anniversary for the first time since 2016.