Movatterモバイル変換

[0]ホーム

Jump to content

Permanent members of the United Nations Security Council

Edit links

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Five countries influential in world affairs

Thepermanent members of the United Nations Security Council (also known as thePermanent Five,Big Five, orP5) are the five sovereign states to whom theUN Charter of 1945 grants a permanent seat on theUN Security Council:China,France,Russia,United Kingdom, andUnited States.^[1]^[2]

The permanent members were allAllies in World War II (and the victors of that war), and arethe five states with the first and most nuclear weapons.^[3] All have thepower of veto, which enables any one of them to prevent the adoption of any "substantive" draft Council resolution, regardless of its level of international support.^[4]

The remaining 10 members of the UN Security Council are elected by the General Assembly, giving a total of 15UN member states on the Security Council, which convenes meetings at theheadquarters of the United Nations inNew York City.

There have been various proposals toreform the UNSC, including the introduction of new permanent members for theG4 nations of Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan. TheUniting for Consensus movement, under the leadership ofItaly, opposes these bids.

Permanent members

[edit]

The following is a table of the current permanent members of theUnited Nations Security Council.

State	Current state representation	Former state representation	Current executive leaders	Permanent representative
China	People's Republic of China	Republic of China^[a] (1945–1949,1949–1971)	CCP General Secretary and President:Xi Jinping^[b] Premier of the State Council:Li Qiang^[c]	Fu Cong^[5]
France	French Republic (Fifth Republic)	Provisional Government of the French Republic (1945–1946) French Fourth Republic (1946–1958)	President:Emmanuel Macron Prime Minister:Sébastien Lecornu	Jérôme Bonnafont^[6]
Russia	Russian Federation	Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1945–1991)	President:Vladimir Putin Prime Minister:Mikhail Mishustin	Vasily Nebenzya^[7]
United Kingdom	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland	—	Monarch:King Charles III Prime Minister:Keir Starmer	Barbara Woodward^[8]
United States	United States of America	—	President:Donald Trump	Mike Waltz^[9]

History

[edit]

The original permanent members of the United Nations Security Council in 1945 (dark blue) with their respective colonies and other holdings shown (pale blue)

Leaders of the five permanent member states at a summit in 2000. Clockwise from front left: Chinese paramount leaderJiang Zemin, US PresidentBill Clinton, UK Prime MinisterTony Blair, Russian PresidentVladimir Putin, and French PresidentJacques Chirac.

Based on the consensus concerning the Security Council's structure agreed upon at the 1944Dumbarton Oaks Conference^[10] and subsequently atUN's founding in 1945, the five permanent members of the Security Council were theFrench Republic, theRepublic of China, theSoviet Union, theUnited Kingdom, and theUnited States. There have been two seat changes since then, although these have not been reflected inArticle 23 of theUN Charter, as it has not been accordingly amended:

China's seat was originally held by theNationalist government of theRepublic of China (ROC). However, it lost theChinese Civil War andretreated to the island ofTaiwan in 1949. TheChinese Communist Party won control ofMainland China and established thePeople's Republic of China (PRC). In 1971,UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 recognised the PRC as the legal representative of China in the UN, and gave it the seat on the Security Council that had been held by the ROC, which was expelled from the UN altogether.^[11] Both the ROC and the PRC continue to claimde jure sovereignty over the entirety of China (including Taiwan).^[12]^[13]^[14] However, only13 states continue to officially recognise the ROC as thesole legitimate government of China.
After thedissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991,Russia was recognised as thelegal successor state of theSoviet Union and maintained the latter's position on the Security Council.^[15]^[16]^[17]^[18]

Additionally, between the founding of the United Nations and the end of the 20th century, many of the overseas territories of the United Kingdom and France became independent with the breakup of theBritish Empire andFrench colonial empire, and France had a reduction inde jure territory with theindependence of Algeria in 1962.^[d] France maintained its seat as there was no change in its international status or recognition. (During this time, France also reformed itsprovisional government into theFrench Fourth Republic in 1946 and into theFrench Fifth Republic in 1958, both under the leadership ofCharles de Gaulle.)

The five permanent members of the Security Council were the victorious powers inWorld War II and have maintained the world's most powerful military forces ever since. They annually top thelist of countries with the highest military expenditures along with India and Germany; in 2011, they spent overUS$1 trillion combined on defence, accounting for over 60% of global military expenditures (the US alone accounting for over 40%). They are also among the world'stop 10 largest arms exporters and are the only nations officially recognised as "nuclear-weapon states" under theTreaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), though there are other states known or believed to be in possession of nuclear weapons.

Veto power

[edit]

Main article:United Nations Security Council veto power

The "power of veto" refers to the veto power wielded solely by the permanent members, enabling them to prevent the adoption of any "substantive" draft Council resolution, regardless of the level of international support for the draft. The veto does not apply to procedural votes, which is significant in that the Security Council's permanent membership can vote against a "procedural" draft resolution, without necessarily blocking its adoption by the council.

The veto is exercised when any permanent member — the so-called "P5" — casts a "negative" vote on a "substantive" draft resolution.Abstention or absence from the vote by a permanent member does not prevent a draft resolution from being adopted.

Expansion

[edit]

Main article:Reform of the United Nations Security Council

TheG4 nations:Brazil,Germany,India, andJapan

There have been proposals for the introduction of new permanent members. The candidates usually mentioned areBrazil,Germany,India, andJapan. They compose the group of four countries known as theG4 nations, which mutually support one another's bids for permanent seats.^[19]

This sort of reform has historically been opposed byUniting for Consensus, which is composed primarily of nations that are regional rivals and economic competitors of the G4. The group is composed of:

Italy andSpain (opposingGermany)
Colombia,Mexico andArgentina (opposingBrazil)
Pakistan (opposingIndia)
South Korea (opposingJapan)
Canada,Costa Rica,Malta,San Marino,Turkey^[20]

Since 1992,Italy and other council members have instead proposed semi-permanent seats or expanding the number of temporary seats.^[21] In 2024, the United States proposed the creation of two permanent seats on the Security Council for African countries, in the event of an expansion of the Security Council.^[22]

Most of the leading candidates for permanent membership are regularly elected onto the Security Council by their respective groups. Japan was elected for eleven two-year terms, Brazil for ten terms, and Germany for three terms. India has been elected to the council eight times in total, with the most recent successful bid being in2020.

In 2013, the P5 and G4 members of the UN Security Council accounted for eight of theworld's ten largest defence budgets, according to theStockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Leaders of the permanent members

[edit]

The following are theheads of state orheads of government that represent the permanent members of the UN Security Council as of 2025^[update]:

Xi Jinping
Paramount leader of the
People's Republic of China
since15 November 2012^[e]
Emmanuel Macron
President of the
French Republic
since14 May 2017
Vladimir Putin
President of the
Russian Federation
since7 May 2012^[f]
Keir Starmer
Prime Minister of the
United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
since5 July 2024
Donald Trump
President of the
United States of America
since20 January 2025

Historical leaders

[edit]

Comparison

[edit]

Comparison of P5 nations
Country data	CHN	FRA	RUS	U.K.	U.S.
Region	Asia-Pacific	Western Europe and Others	Eastern Europe	Western Europe and Others	Western Europe and Others (observer)
Population	17.9% 2nd	0.9% 20th	1.9% 9th	0.9% 21st	4.2% 3rd
Territory	9,596,961 km² 4th	640,679 km² 42nd	17,098,246 km² 1st	242,495 km² 78th	9,833,517 km² 3rd
GDP (nominal) (US$trillion)	$19.4 2nd	$3.36 7th	$2.54 9th	$3.96 6th	$30.61 1st
GDP (PPP) (US$trillion)	$41.01 1st	$4.53 9th	$7.14 4th	$4.45 10th	$30.61 2nd
UN funding¹	12.01% 2nd	4.43% 6th	2.41% 10th	4.57% 5th	22.00% 1st
UN peacekeeping funding²	15.22% 2nd	5.61% 6th	3.04% 8th	5.79% 5th	27.89% 1st
UN peacekeepers	2,531 9th	706 30th	70 70th	279 48th	33 78th
Defence budget (US$billion)	$292.0 2nd	$53.0 8th	$86.4 3rd	$68.5 6th	$887.0 1st
Military (active)	2,185,000 1st	203,250 22nd	1,320,000 4th	148,500 34th	1,328,100 3rd
Military (reserve)	510,000 9th	56,000 41st	2,000,000 2nd	80,000 35th	844,950 7th
Paramilitary (active)'	660,000 6th	14,350 60th	554,000 60th	0 —	0 —
Military (total)	4,015,000 5th	380,600 28th	3,874,000 6th	275,053 40th	2,072,950 8th
Active space program	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Helicopter carriers projects	Y	Y	Y	N	Y
Aircraft carriers projects	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Nuclear submarines projects	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Active nuclear arsenal	350 3rd	290 4th	5,977 1st	225 5th	5,428 2nd
¹share of annual UN budget²share of funding for UN peacekeeping

Notes

[edit]

^On 25 October 1971, through UN Resolution 2758, thePeople's Republic of China was recognized as the legal representative of the Chinese seat on the Security Council in place of theRepublic of China onTaiwan.
^ThePresident of China is legally aceremonial office, but theGeneral Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (de facto leader) has always held this office since 1993, except for the months oftransition. The currentparamount leader is PresidentXi Jinping.
^Thede jurehead of government of China is thePremier of the State Council, whose current holder isLi Qiang.
^At the time, both the law of France and theUnited Nations list of non-self-governing territories recognizedFrench Algeria as a part of France, instead of a colony of France.
^General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party since 15 November 2012 andPresident of China since 14 March 2013
^PreviouslyPresident of Russia in 2000–08

References

[edit]

^"United Nations Charter (full text)".United Nations. Retrieved28 February 2022.
^"Security Council Members".United Nations Security Council. Retrieved21 March 2020.
^"Table 10.1. World nuclear forces, January 2020", page 326, Chapter 10: "World nuclear forces",Military Spending and Armaments, 2019,Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, retrieved March 18, 2023
^[1] WHAT WE DO: THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL Archived 20 June 2012 at theWayback Machine
^"China's EU ambassador Fu Cong to take over United Nations role".South China Morning Post. 13 April 2024. Retrieved16 April 2024.
^"Décret du 13 février 2025 portant nomination d'un ambassadeur, représentant permanent de la France au Conseil de sécurité et chef de la mission permanente française près les Nations unies à New York - M. BONNAFONT (Jérôme)".France ONU (in French). Retrieved13 July 2025.
^"Постоянное представительство Российской Федерации при ООН".russiaun.ru. Retrieved6 May 2020.
^"Barbara Woodward DCMG".GOV.UK. Retrieved9 December 2020.
^"Ambassador Mike Waltz".usun.usmission.gov. Retrieved20 September 2025.
^Robert C. Hilderbrand (2001).Dumbarton Oaks: The Origins of the United Nations and the Search for Postwar Security. UNC Press Books. pp. 122–123.ISBN 9780807849507.
^Froehlich, Annette; Seffinga, Vincent (2019).The United Nations and Space Security: Conflicting Mandates between UNCOPUOS and the CD. Springer. p. 40.ISBN 978-3-030-06025-1.
^Sarmento, Clara (2009).Eastwards / Westwards: Which Direction for Gender Studies in the 21st Century?. Cambridge Scholars. p. 127.ISBN 978-1-4438-0868-2.
^Hudson, Christopher (2014).The China Handbook. Routledge. p. 59.ISBN 978-1-134-26966-2.
^Rigger, Shelley (2002).Politics in Taiwan: Voting for Reform. Routledge. p. 60.ISBN 978-1-134-69297-2.
^Blum, Yehuda Z. (1992)."Russia Takes Over the Soviet Union's Seat at the United Nations"(PDF).European Journal of International Law.3 (2):354–362.doi:10.1093/ejil/3.2.354. Retrieved20 October 2022.
^MacLeod, Andrew (24 February 2022)."Ukraine invasion: Should Russia lose its seat on the UN Security Council?".The Conversation.
^MacLeod, Andrew (25 February 2022)."Ukraine invasion: Should Russia lose its seat on the UN Security Council?".King's College London.
^Menon, Kiran Mohandas (7 March 2022)."How did Russia get USSR's permanent seat on UN Security Council?".RTÉ.ie.
^Sharma, Rajeev (27 September 2015)."India pushes the envelope at G4 Summit: PM Modi tells UNSC to make space for largest democracies".First Post. Retrieved20 October 2015.
^"Italy Accuses G4 of Foul Play – DW – 07/27/2005".Deutsche Welle.
^"Italy Accuses G4 of Foul Play | DW | 27 July 2005".Deutsche Welle.
^Chutel, Lynsey; Fassihi, Farnaz (12 September 2024)."United States Backs Africa's U.N. Security Council Bid, With a Catch".The New York Times. Retrieved15 September 2024.

Nico J. Schrijver and Niels M. Blokker (eds.). 2020.Elected Members of the Security Council: Lame Ducks or Key Players? Brill.com.^{[full citation needed]}
GPF Staff (April 2005)."Security Council Expansion—A Regional Model"(PDF).GlobalPolicy.org.Global Policy Forum. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 19 May 2009. This is referred to by some^[who?] as the "Italian Model".^{[citation needed]}

Security Council of theUnited Nations

Power

Organization

Missions

Members

Permanent	China France Russia United Kingdom United States
2024–2025	Algeria Guyana South Korea Sierra Leone Slovenia
2025–2026	Denmark Greece Pakistan Panama Somalia

Category

United Nations

UN System

Charter	Preamble
Principal organs	Secretariat Secretary-General selections Deputy Secretary-General Under-Secretary-General General Assembly President International Court of Justice Statute Security Council Elections Members President Reform Veto power Economic and Social Council President Trusteeship Council
Funds, programmes, and other bodies	Culture of Peace IAEA IPCC ITC MINURSO OHCHR SCSL UNAIDS UNCDF UNCITRAL UNCTAD UNDGC UNDP UNDPO peacekeeping UNEP OzonAction UNEP/GRID-Arendal UNEP-WCMC UNFPA UN-HABITAT UNHCR UNHRC UNICEF UNICRI UNIDIR UNITAR UN-Oceans UNODC UNOPS UNOSAT UNRISD UNRWA UNSDG UNSSC UNU UNU-CRIS UNU-OP UNV UN Women WFP
Specialized agencies	FAO ICAO IFAD ILO IMF IMO IOM ITU UN Tourism UNESCO UNIDO UPU WFEO WHO WIPO WMO World Bank Group IBRD IDA IFC
Secretariat offices and departments	Headquarters Conference Building General Assembly Building Secretariat Building Department of Economic and Social Affairs Department of Peace Operations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Dag Hammarskjöld Library Department for Safety and Security Division for Palestinian Rights Office at Geneva Palace of Nations Office at Nairobi Office at Vienna Office for Disarmament Affairs Office for Outer Space Affairs Office for Partnerships Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Office of Internal Oversight Services Office of Legal Affairs Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States Office of Counter-Terrorism Office of the Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General Office on Sport for Development and Peace UN organizations by location

Members
and observers

History

Preceding years	International Telegraph Union Universal Postal Union Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 Permanent Court of Arbitration International Office of Public Hygiene League of Nations archives covenant organization member states
Preparatory years	Declaration of St James's Palace (1941) Atlantic Charter (1941) Declaration by United Nations (1942) Moscow Conference (1943) Tehran Conference (1943) Bretton Woods Conference (1944) Dumbarton Oaks Conference (1944) Yalta Conference (1945) Conference on International Organization (1945) Genocide Convention (1948)
Activities	Enlargement Peacekeeping missions timeline governed territories UNPOL Universal Declaration of Human Rights drafting Human Rights Day World Heritage Convention Convention on the Rights of the Child committee Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Indigenous Caucus Sustainable Development Goals Declaration on the Rights of Peasants

Resolutions

Elections

Secretary-General
International Court of Justice
- 2023
- 2022
- 2021
- 2020
- 2017
- 2014
- 2011
General Assembly President (2016)
Security Council (2016)

World portal

United Nations Charter

Text

Organs created

History

Background	Paris Peace Conference Treaty of Versailles Covenant of the League of Nations
Preparation	London Declaration (1941) Atlantic Charter (1941) Declaration by United Nations (1942) Moscow Conference (1943) Tehran Conference (1943) Dumbarton Oaks Conference (1944) Yalta Conference (1945) Conference on International Organization (1945)
Signatories	Original members