Reforming the United Nations Security Council has been under discussion for decades, however little action has been taken. This essay explores possibilities to make the Security Council more responsive to change in world order and equally represent all regions of the world. It further proposes procedural changes to lend the Security Council and the UN as a whole more legitimacy.
Writing this paper was an incredible opportunity for me as UN reform has been part of my academic career on and off since 9th grade. Finally, I got a chance to sit down and explicitly outline fundamental changes to the UN's one decision-making body with vast enforcement options. The thoroughness and detail of the plan for reform are definitely the strength of the paper. I also for the first time succeeded in setting the scene for a broader audience and in including general information, a communication skill I neglected much at the start of the semester. When I submitted the essay I was missing one important content component, the mechanism by which changes to the UN framework are procedurally done. I later added this information in the last paragraph and made minor grammatical improvements in the entire paper.
Since I doubt it will ever come to pass, I view this paper more of an exploration of what could be and maybe what should be rather than an actual alternative in the debate on UN reform in the year 2011. It is nonetheless feasible because the problems of legitimacy and responsiveness to change are broad criticisms of the UN today and demand far reaching amendments in the set up and procedure of the Security Council. Thus "Changing the World" may sound unattainable but no less necessary.
