Financial Times: Annan calls for reforming the UN Security Council
Regional, Politics, 9/8/2003

At this moment in the UN history, and with the problems the UN security council has caused, the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan told the Financial Times in an interview that it is time to reform the UN Security Council.

Seeing an opportunity to radically restructure the council, the Financial Times reported that "Kofi Annan, United Nations secretary general, has called for a fundamental overhaul of the international security system, as nations embark on a fraught effort to find consensus and legitimacy in the rebuilding of Iraq."

Annan told the Financial Times "We need to look at the way the international peace and security architecture is structured and is functioning."

It was not clear if Annan intends to submit his proposal this week as a package, with the ongoing debate on Iraq, and how forcefully he is willing to speak up on the issue.

There are some who would like to see the Security Council become democratic, while others would like to do away with it, giving all its power to the General Assembly.

France, Russia, and China have not indicated how resolute they are in their determination to bring about fundamental change to this institution, as they all have vested interest in maintaining the veto system which they may feel that it benefits them. Even France, the only country that seems to have mustered will and determination and is the most resolute, has not indicated how far it will go to radically transform the council and democratizing it. However, France and Germany who had been fighting the UK in the European Union about the need to eliminate the veto system, seem to have come to the clear understanding about how harmful such a veto system is to genuine development, and vulnerability of such systems to being held-up and manipulated by a single member who would be determined to block progress.

Previous Stories:
  The UN is a fundamentally flawed institution   (4/26/2003)
  Morocco pleads for credible reform of the UN   (11/1/2002)
  Egypt: United Nations' General Assembly needs reform   (5/18/2002)
  Egypt demands structural reform of all UN bodies   (5/16/2000)

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