Five members belonging to the Non-Aligned Movement will sit on the Security Council in 2022
11 October 2021
Of the countries serving terms on the Security Council in 2022, five will be full members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM): Gabon, Ghana, India, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates, representing a drop of one from the 2021 Council . . .
Five members belonging to the Non-Aligned Movement will sit on the Security Council in 2022
11 October 2021
Of the countries serving terms on the Security Council in 2022, five will be full members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM): Gabon, Ghana, India, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates, representing a drop of one from the 2021 Council . . .
Five members belonging to the Non-Aligned Movement will sit on the Security Council in 2022
11 October 2021
Of the countries serving terms on the Security Council in 2022, five will be full members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM): Gabon, Ghana, India, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates, representing a drop of one from the 2021 Council . . .
Five members belonging to the Non-Aligned Movement will sit on the Security Council in 2022
11 October 2021
Of the countries serving terms on the Security Council in 2022, five will be full members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM): Gabon, Ghana, India, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates, representing a drop of one from the 2021 Council . . .
Five members belonging to the Non-Aligned Movement will sit on the Security Council in 2022
11 October 2021
Of the countries serving terms on the Security Council in 2022, five will be full members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM): Gabon, Ghana, India, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates, representing a drop of one from the 2021 Council . . .
Vetoes, insufficient votes and competing draft resolutions accentuate divisions within the Council
2 April 2022
Since 2000, and especially since 2010, there has been a marked increase in divisive votes in the Security Council,
which reflects the fact that some Council members are now less willing to shield the Council's divisions from
public view. In part, this reflects the polarizing nature of some key items more recently before the Council . . .
Last Update: 25 Oct. 2023
UPDATE WEBSITE OF
THE PROCEDURE OF THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL, 4TH EDITION
by Loraine Sievers and Sam Daws, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2014
Updated on 25 October 2023
Chapter 6: VOTING
Section 1: Substantive decisions and the veto
Veto statistics adjusted to show votes on issues of international peace and security
Since 2000, there has been a marked resurgence in the use of the veto. A total of 48 draft resolutions relating to international peace and security have not been adopted owing to the veto, in connection with the following situations:
Middle East (Syria): 18 draft resolutions vetoed (18 vetoes by Russian Federation; 10 by China)
Middle East, including the Palestinian question: 14 draft resolutions vetoed (13 vetoed by United States, 1 by Russian Federation)
Ukraine: 4 draft resolutions vetoed (Russian Federation)
Bosnia and Herzegovina: 2 draft resolutions vetoed (1 vetoed by United States, 1 by Russian Federation)
Cyprus: 1 draft resolution vetoed (Russian Federation)
Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Non-proliferation): 1 draft resolution vetoed (China; Russian Federation)
Georgia: 1 draft resolution vetoed (Russian Federation)
Mali: 1 draft resolution vetoed (Russian Federation)
Myanmar: 1 draft resolution vetoed (China; Russian Federation)
Venezuela: 1 draft resolution vetoed (China, Russian Federation)
Yemen: 1 draft resolution vetoed (by the Russian Federation)
Zimbabwe: 1 draft resolution vetoed (China; Russian Federation)
Foreign terrorist fighters: 1 draft resolution vetoed (United States)
Climate and security: 1 draft resolution (Russian Federation)
The table below provides veto statistics adjusted to show votes on issues of international peace and security. Please refer to Table 4 on this website for specific details.
An article in The Moscow Times by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber, published on 25 February 2015, states that
“Russia has used its veto power more than any of the other permanent members of the council,
having blocked 101 resolutions since the UN's establishment in 1945. By way of comparison, the
United States blocked 79 resolutions during the same period.”
An abuse of the veto by any Permanent Member is to be regretted. However, the aggregate statistics for the number of vetoes cast over the history of the United Nations need to be adjusted in order to gain an accurate view of the number of times a Permanent Member has blocked action by the Council on issues of international peace and security.
As of 30 August 2023, the Soviet Union / Russian Federation has cast a total of 149 officially identified vetoes; the United States, 87; the United Kingdom, 30; China, 20 (one cast by the Republic of China before the People's Republic of China took up China's seat at the UN); and France, 18, for a total of 301 vetoes on 249 different proposals (not included in these totals are one veto each reportedly cast by the Soviet Union and the United States in the context of appointments of Secretaries-General).
However, 59 of those vetoes were cast by the Soviet Union, the United States or China to block the admission of a country to UN membership. The majority of vetoes against applicants were cast from 1946 to 1961 by the Soviet Union, in response to what it saw as an effort by Western States unfairly to bar Eastern European socialist States from UN membership. Moreover, in some cases applicants for UN membership, once rejected, repeatedly resubmitted their applications, such that in some instances, the Soviet Union vetoed the same applicants several times.
Of the 59 applications for UN membership which were vetoed, 51 of those vetoes were cast by the Soviet Union, six by the United States, and two by China. The Soviet Union voted against UN membership for Austria, Cambodia, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Finland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Laos, Libya, Mauritania, Nepal, Portugal, the Republic of Korea, Spain and Vietnam. The United States voted against UN membership for Angola, the Republic of South Vietnam, and the Democratic/Socialist Republic of Vietnam. China voted against UN membership for Bangladesh and Mongolia; this latter veto being cast by the Republic of China prior to the People's Republic of China taking up China's seat on the Council.
As shown in the attached table, if all vetoes cast against applicants for UN membership and all recorded vetoes against candidates for Secretary-General are set aside, the Soviet Union/Russian Federation has cast 97 vetoes, and the United States has cast 80, on issues of international peace and security.