by Ellen Paine
During the current debate about additional non-elected (permanent) members of the Security Council, delegations often say that this or that member state meets the requisite criteria. All too often, though, the attributes mentioned are extremely vague -- such as "the ability to undertake global responsibilities." But sometimes delegations mention more objective criteria -- such as population size, wealth, contribution to UN peacekeeping operations, and other kinds of support for the UN (including timeliness of payment of budget assessments). The following table looks at how existing and aspirant "permanent" members measure up on some of the more commonly-mentioned criteria.
Based on December 1996 Data
| Country | Pop. Rank | Pop. Size Millions | GNP Rank | PKO Trp. Cont. Rank | Assessmt. Payment Timeliness |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent-5 | . | . | . | . | . |
| China | 1 | 1,210 | 7 | 48 | fair |
| France | 19 | 58 | 4 | 24 | fair |
| Russia | 6 | 148 | 11 | 4 | poor |
| United Kingdom | 18 | 58 | 6 | 27 | fair |
| United States | 3 | 266 | 1 | 17 | poor |
| Candidates | . | . | . | . | . |
| Argentina | 30 | 35 | 21 | 21 | fair |
| Brazil | 5 | 163 | 9 | 8 | poor |
| Egypt | 16 | 64 | 34 | 34 | fair |
| Germany | 12 | 84 | 3 | 30 | fair |
| Indonesia | 4 | 207 | 16 | 29 | fair |
| India | 2 | 952 | 13 | 2 | fair |
| Japan | 8 | 125 | 2 | 45 | fair |
| Mexico | 11 | 96 | 10 | none | fair |
| Nigeria | 10 | 104 | 52 | 39 | fair |
| Pakistan | 7 | 129 | 23 | 1 | fair |
| South Africa | 26 | 42 | 24 | none | good |
Assessment Payment Timeliness Criteria:
good = pays on time
fair = does not pay on time, but pays within the budget year -- no major debts outstanding
poor = does not pay within the budget year -- major debts outstanding
