this post was submitted on 10 Dec 2023
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Calls are growing for the UN Security Council to be reformed after the US became the only member to use its veto power to block a Gaza ceasefire resolution, a move welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The UN chief says he will keep pushing for peace.

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[–] someguy3@lemmy.ca 72 points 9 months ago

Which will be vetoed by all permanent members of the security council.

[–] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 53 points 9 months ago (1 children)

The problem in this case is depending on the security council to act on an issue it isn't designed to address.

The main purpose of the UN is to prevent global war, and the Security Council is the primary way in which that goal is achieved.

In that context, the P5's veto power makes sense. It prevents resolutions pitting the world against one of the superpowers that can sustain that kind of war.

[–] ferralcat@monyet.cc 8 points 9 months ago (5 children)

How does the security counsel prevent global war? They're powerless to do anything to any of the super powers and by proxy also won't do anything to anyone else either.

[–] Wogi@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

That's the neat part! It doesn't!

[–] Metatronz@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

Or the wonky intertwinement is the peace mechanism? How much more bloody would the world have been without it?

[–] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

"Global War" isn't all war on the globe. It's war that pulls in the whole world. Having 4 of the P5 gang up on the 5th in a military campaign authorized by the UN would very likely result in WWIII.

The veto power prevents the UN from taking military action against a country the interest of countries that can sustain a war against the rest of the world.

[–] spiderkle@lemmy.ca 52 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

Nobody is surprised and that's a bad sign. The UN was invented to give the nations of our world a shared forum to talk things out and find a "resolution" before genociding each other. The thing is we can't expect the UN to stop conflict.

Edit: Some people seem to confuse the UN security council with the UN. The SC has only 15 members (5 permanent member nations, 10 rotating member nations) and is usually asked to vote on intervention once a resolution was passed. It can't act with a veto.

[–] crackajack@reddthat.com 13 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Yeah, this is something people don't quite understand. The UN primarily provides platform to initiate diplomatic discourse.

Even when there is demand to reform the UN to give it more power, most people will object because "'muh sovereignty".

[–] spiderkle@lemmy.ca 4 points 9 months ago

This is the point exactly. The UN is a voluntary forum for signatory nations to meet and talk shit out.

What some people think of instead is the UN security council made up of 5 permanent members (US, UK, France, China, Russia) and 10 rotating members (every two years) deciding on intervention in conflicts, but there can be no veto on resolutions. That's been a problem in the past, because rival nations just cancel each other out on some issues, making meaningful progress difficult.

People shouldn't blame the UN for initiating talks. We now know, 121 nations are in favor of a ceasefire, 44 abstained or are too afraid to take sides and only 14 veto'd it and wanna continue bombing, that sends a pretty clear message about what the majority of nations thinks should happen.

Instead blame the nuclear powers for not being able to talk to each other anymore, blame the radicals in any conflict. Don't blame the diplomacy.

[–] SCB@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

If the UN was serious about promoting peace, they'd have occupied Gaza themselves over a decade ago.

This vote, like all votes, is political. It's not for some higher purpose

[–] chitak166@lemmy.world 41 points 9 months ago

American here, I support this call.

[–] rottingleaf@lemmy.zip 30 points 9 months ago (1 children)

So there were no "calls for reform" after a similar Russian veto about Artsakh in 2020 or recently. If nobody cares about that, then why should I care about anything else really.

[–] serratur@lemmy.wtf 16 points 9 months ago (3 children)

There has been "calls for reform" almost every time Russia has vetoed

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[–] Siegfried@lemmy.world 13 points 9 months ago (1 children)

There shouldn't be a security council

[–] assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago

It's less a council of nations who actively keep the world secure, but moreso a council to keep the world secure from those nations. The security council is there so the world's most dangerous countries don't just go to war, and it makes them maintain a dialogue.

It's unfortunately functioning as needed. The vetoes may piss others off, but it keeps them at the table. The ability to veto anything is a great incentive to stick around.

[–] OrteilGenou@lemmy.world 6 points 9 months ago

How are they supposed to cater to the MIC if some random bunch of countries can cut off their markets like that?

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