U.S. backs 2 permanent seats for African nations on the UN Security Council

U.S. supports expanding U.N. Security Council with two permanent seats for Africa and a rotating seat for small islands.

The United States announced Thursday that it will support the addition of two new permanent seats for African countries on the powerful U.N. Security Council — and a first-ever non-permanent seat for a small island developing nation.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield made the announcement in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, calling it a follow-up to U.S. President Joe Biden’s announcement two years ago that the U.S. supports expanding the 15-member body.

While Africa has three non-permanent seats on the Security Council, that doesn’t allow African countries “to deliver the full benefit of their knowledge and voices,” she said.

“That is why, in addition to non-permanent membership for African countries, the United States supports creating two permanent seats for Africa on the council,” Thomas-Greenfield said. “It’s what our African partners seek, and it’s what we believe is just.”

However, Thomas-Greenfield later said Washington opposes giving veto power to the African countries that would hold the two permanent seats because the veto makes the Security Council’s work “dysfunctional.”

That view shows the limits in the amount of power that Washington wants to give to any other country. While Security Council resolutions are legally binding, they are often ignored by targeted countries.

Virtually all countries agree that nearly eight decades after the United Nations was established in the wake of World War II, the Security Council should be expanded to reflect the world in the 21st century and include more voices. But the central question — and the biggest disagreement — remains how to do it.