The new fight to reform the UN’s colonial-era world order

In a city known for its private members clubs battling for exclusivity, one gilded room in Manhattan reigns supreme: a powerful club of countries within the United Nations headquarters that has resisted adding a new member for nearly eight decades.

In a city known for its private members clubs battling for exclusivity, one gilded room in Manhattan reigns supreme: a powerful club of countries within the United Nations headquarters that has resisted adding a new member for nearly eight decades. The UN Security Council has been dominated by just five countries (the United States, China, Russia, France, and the United Kingdom) since its inception from the ashes of World War II, when much of the world was still under colonial rule. Today, countries around the world get to take turns in the council as non-permanent members, but no country in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America or the Caribbean has the permanent members’ crucial veto power. The veto allows permanent members, known as the P5, to block any resolution, ranging from peacekeeping missions to sanctions, in defense of their national interests and foreign policy decisions. But there is a renewed push to reform this colonial-era world order. As world leaders prepare to return to the UN headquarters for the annual General Assembly this September, Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio has reiterated Africa’s longstanding pitch to reform the council, including two new permanent member spots for African countries.