Double Veto System: Reforming the Veto and Voting Rules in UN Security Council

Abstract

The UN Charter endows the UN Security Council with the authority and responsibility to maintain international peace and security. Given this mandate, the Security Council plays an essential role in addressing transnational and non-traditional security threats. However, the Council’s demonstrated inefficiencies have sparked widespread calls for reform, particularly concerning the veto power, which is criticized by nearly all nations except the permanent members. This paper focuses on reforming the veto power of the five permanent members. Through a literature review, this paper summarizes mainstream reform proposals and analyzes the frequency and characteristics of vetoes exercised by the permanent members over the past 24 years. It also examines the differing positions of China and Russia versus the US, the UK, and France on Middle Eastern issues and proposes a feasible reform method—a Double Veto System—to ensure that the operation of the P5 is based on shared interests, while pioneering new pathways for reform in the UN Security Council.