“South Africa, Brazil, India, Germany and
others have been pushing for reform of the
United Nations(UN)Security Council that
would realise their ambitions to secure permanent seats on the Security Council. But
at the end of 2011, 20 years since the reform
momentum began, the process is stalled. For
the reasons set out in this policy brief, it
seems unlikely that these ambitions can be
realised. But reform of the Security Council
is essential if international institutions
are to be rescued from atrophy, and if conflicts are to be prevented and managed
more effectively so that ordinary people in
conflict situations can confidently look
to collective international action to rescue
them from death or suffering. “
