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The United Nations (UN) is the closest to a supranational entity there is in existence, representing 192 states and even granting observer status for contentious polities such as Palestine and the Vatican.[1] Proponents have lauded the UN as being a "parliament of nations", providing every member of the global community with an opportunity to openly raise and discuss pertinent issues concerning them. [2] However, one could question whether this is indeed the case. This paper seeks to examine the argument that the agenda of the UN is directed by the Security Council, and is thus really a dictatorship of the few.

The Security Council consists of fifteen members, ten of which are elected for two year terms by the General Assembly. The other five - China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America (USA) - are permanent members (P5). Critics have charged that the Security Council wields an amount of constitutional power disproportionate to its size compared to the General Assembly.[3]

The P5 in particular, possess veto powers that can override resolutions any of them may disagree with. Decision making is thus largely confined to this elite club, and non-council members are understandably "uneasy about a body on which at any moment any one of them was unlikely to sit, which would have the last word, and in which the great powers would carry the main weight."[4]

It could be challenged that the majority of vetoes cast since the formation of the United Nations stemmed from Cold War rivalries, with a total of 243 cast from 1946 to 1995. In contrast, only 20 have been cast since 1996. Perhaps then the use of the veto was merely a weapon used by the superpowers in the Cold War, rather than an oppressive tool for dominating the UN agenda.

However, this argument proves unconvincing in light of instances when the P5 vetoed resolutions that ran contrary to global opinion. Draft Security Council Resolution 240 sought to condemn Israel's "extrajudicial execution" of Hamas' spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.[5] The draft was subsequently vetoed by the US in 2004 despite global condemnation of Israel's actions.[6]

Draft Security Resolution 14, reflected global calls for Myanmar's ruling junta to take concrete steps towards democracy, including the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners. This draft was similarly killed by a double veto from China and Russia, countries that have extensive trade links with the military regime.[7]

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