Untying the Gordian Knot: Analyzing the Challenges of United Nations Security Council Reform in the 21st Century: Untying the Gordian Knot: Analyzing the Challenges of United Nations Security Council Reform in the 21st Century
Author
Kromann, Johann Raunskov
Term
4. semester
Education
Publication year
2024
Submitted on
2024-05-31
Pages
77
Abstract
This thesis examines why attempts to reform the United Nations Security Council face persistent obstacles despite broad agreement that change is needed. It is an explanatory case study of UN-level reform efforts, focusing on the annual Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) during the 78th session of the UN General Assembly. The study draws on document analysis of official UN materials, member state statements, and field notes from participation in the IGN process. It first sets out the historical background of the Council’s work and the reform debate, and describes the situation up to May 2024. The analysis then uses liberal institutionalism to explore how institutional design, divergent interests and preferences among member states, incremental approaches within the negotiations, and the conduct of the five permanent members (P5) shape reform prospects. A second, policy-focused analysis applies the multiple streams framework, examining the problem, policy, and politics streams, identifying policy entrepreneurs, and assessing whether a policy window has opened. The thesis concludes that reform efforts are hampered above all by significant divergences in member state preferences, largely driven by national interests, and by conduct from the P5 aimed at preventing change. A very high formal threshold for structural reform further limits opportunities for consensus and creates institutional inertia. Finally, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war have amplified calls for change but have also complicated the process by shifting attention from more attainable working methods reform toward structural reform. The thesis discusses the implications of these findings and acknowledges its limitations.
Dette speciale undersøger, hvorfor forsøg på at reformere FN’s Sikkerhedsråd møder vedvarende modstand, selv om der er bred enighed om, at ændringer er nødvendige. Specialet er et forklarende casestudie af forløbet på FN-niveau med fokus på de årlige Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) under FN’s Generalforsamlings 78. samling. Det bygger på dokumentanalyse af officielle FN-dokumenter, medlemslandenes nationale udtalelser og feltnoter fra deltagelse i IGN-forløbet. Først skitseres den historiske baggrund for Sikkerhedsrådets arbejde og reformdebatten samt situationen frem til maj 2024. Dernæst analyseres reformspørgsmålet gennem liberal institutionalisme, med vægt på institutionelt design, forskelle i medlemslandenes interesser og præferencer, gradvise (inkrementelle) tilgange i forhandlingerne og de fem permanente medlemmers (P5) adfærd og dens betydning. Herefter følger en politiknær analyse med multiple streams-rammen, hvor problem-, policy- og politikstrømme gennemgås, og hvor mulige policy-entreprenører og tilstedeværelsen af et policy-vindue vurderes. Specialet konkluderer, at reformarbejdet især hæmmes af markante forskelle i medlemslandenes præferencer, som i høj grad er drevet af nationale interesser, samt af P5’s adfærd, der søger at forhindre reform. En meget høj tærskel for strukturel reform forstærker dette ved at begrænse mulighederne for konsensus og skabe institutionel træghed. Endelig peger specialet på, at den russiske invasion af Ukraine og Israel-Hamas-krigen har øget kravene om reform, men samtidig har gjort processen mere kompleks ved at flytte fokus fra mere opnåelige arbejdsmetodereformer til strukturel reform. Specialet diskuterer implikationerne og afgrænser sine egne begrænsninger.
[This apstract has been rewritten with the help of AI based on the project's original abstract]
Keywords