UN: The "Big Five" permanent members of the United Nations Security Council would never agree to wholesale change but might accept a "modest proposal" to increase the number of temporary seats from 10 to 18, a leading international affairs expert said in Dublin.
Prof Paul Kennedy of Yale University was speaking at the Royal Irish Academy on The Parliament of Man: The Past, Present and Future of the UN, based on his new book of that title.
At present, there are 15 seats on the Security Council, five held on a permanent basis by the victorious powers in the second World War: China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US, while 10 seats are held on a two-year rotating basis by other member states.
A series of proposals for UN reform, including the enlargement of the council, is under discussion.
Prof Kennedy stressed the importance of a positive result from the September summit of world leaders in New York which is due to decide on UN reform. "If we go away this year with no progress at all," he said, "then we have failed."
He said increasing the size of the council, the main executive body of the UN, would allow a greater number of member states to gain experience of diplomacy at that level. At present, temporary members have to step down after two years. Prof Kennedy said that if this rule were abolished, it would allow states that performed well to be re-elected for two or more terms in succession.
An increase in temporary members would "get the idea of change more acceptable".
Prof Kennedy said proposals to abolish the veto powers held by the five permanent members of the council were "hopeless" because the "Big Five" simply would not agree to that. "Raging against the veto is no good," he said.
Countries such as Brazil, Germany and India are campaigning to secure permanent council seats. Prof Kennedy said that, while they had "good claims", there was strong opposition to these countries from other UN member states in the same region, eg Italy versus Germany and Pakistan versus India.