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: 16 August 2024
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 24 April 2024
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. In this time period, a total of 54 draft resolutions, and one draft amendment, have not been adopted owing to the veto in connection with the following 16 situations:
Middle East (Syria): 18 draft resolutions vetoed (18 vetoes by Russian Federation; 10 by China)
Middle East, including the Palestinian question: 17 draft resolutions vetoed (15 vetoes by United States, 2 each by China and Russian Federation) and one draft amendment vetoed (United States)
Ukraine: 4 draft resolutions vetoed (Russian Federation)[1]
Bosnia and Herzegovina: 2 draft resolutions vetoed (1 by United States, 1 by Russian Federation)
Non-proliferation / Democratic People's Republic of Korea: 2 draft resolution vetoed (1 veto by China; two by Russian Federation)
Cyprus: 1 draft resolution vetoed (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 (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)
Admission of new members (Palestine): 1 draft resolution (United States)
Weapons of mass destruction in outer space: 1 draft resolution (Russian Federation)
Thirteen of these drafts, plus one draft amendment, have been vetoed since the adoption on 26 April 2022 of the General Assembly Veto Initiative resolution 76/262.
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.
Overall, the Soviet Union / Russian Federation has voted a total of 152 publicly cast vetoes; the United States, 91; the United Kingdom, 30; China, 21 (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 312 vetoes on 258 different proposals.[2]
However, 60 of these 312 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 60 applications for UN membership which were vetoed, 51 of those vetoes were cast by the Soviet Union, seven 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, Palestine, 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 101 vetoes, and the United States has cast 85, on issues of international peace and security.
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[1] One of these four drafts was on the proposal to establish an international tribunal in connection with the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17.
[2] 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.