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Membership of the Security Council - UN Security Council - Global Policy Forum Security Council Membership
Membership
Membership of the Security Council
This page lists current member-countries, links to the profile of ambassadors, and provides information about presidencies and sanctions committees' chairmanship. Also see membership for previous years: 1996-present.Elected Members: 1946-present
This page lists, year by year, the name of countries elected to serve in the Security Council for a two-year term.Size of Missions of Council Members
Shows relative capacity to function as a Council member.
Elections
Elections of Members to the Security Council: 1996-present
Accounts of elections in which many factors including money and pressure are often at play.
Terminology, Pressures and Privileges
Security Council - Source: BBC Proposal for a Change in Membership Terminology
Why we should refer to "elected" rather than "non-permanent" members.Security Council Seat Tied to Aid (November 1, 2006)
This Washington Post piece questions the relationship between vote at the UN Security Council and aid increase to elected members. A seat on the Council could provide the non permanent member with significant US economic aid according to a Harvard study. Not only did the US provide some elected members with larger financial aid, the International Monetary Fund as well has allocated loans to countries after they joined the top UN body. Some US and UN officials contest the study’s findings, citing other explanations for the increase in development assistance. Yet, experts say that the statistical increase in aid reveals a pattern "that is very consistent with vote buying."Vote Buying in UN Security Council by Any Other Form: Study (August 25, 2006)
Harvard has released a study revealing that permanent members increase their foreign aid to countries elected to serve on the Council for two years. Through mathematical formulas and government data on foreign aid, the report makes the case of vote buying and arm-twisting of elected members during that period. “On average, a non-permanent member of the council enjoys a 59 percent increase in total aid from the United States and an 8 percent increase in total development aid from the United Nations,” the study says. (Deutsche Presse Agentur)Pressures on Africa's Elected Members
Comments by Ambassador Gambari of Nigeria to a meeting of the Africa Amicale.Privileges of Non-Elected ("Permanent") Members
Analysis by Argentina that looks at the many special privileges of non-elected members in the UN system.Eyes on the Prize (January 2000)
David Malone writes that elected "membership in the council is seen at the UN in the late 1990s as more of a prize than ever." A guide to your bid for the Security Council. (Global Governance)Permanent Membership: Objective Criteria
A comparative look at how certain states fulfill the criteria for the great-power status inferred by 'permanent' membership.US, UN and International Law
As the "superpower" and a Permanent member of the Security Council, the US has both privilege and power. This section takes a frank look at the US policy towards the UN and international law and treaties.The Veto
Links to material on this very special privilege of the non-elected members.
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