CDS (II) 2023 General Knowledge · Question 78 of 120

Correct — C, Japan. Article 23 of the United Nations Charter names the permanent members by hand: 'The Security Council shall consist of fifteen Members of the United Nations. The Republic of China, France, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America shall be permanent members of the Security Council.' Japan is not on that list and never has been. The Charter's list has never been amended, so two of the names have simply changed occupants — the China seat passed to the People's Republic of China by General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971, and the Soviet seat was taken up by the Russian Federation in 1991. The other ten Council seats are non-permanent, elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms without immediate re-election.

• (a)France — Named in Article 23 itself and a permanent member since the Council first met in 1946.
• (b)China — Also named in Article 23, as 'the Republic of China'. The seat has been held by the People's Republic of China since 1971, but the permanent membership itself was never in question.
• (d)United Kingdom — Named in Article 23 as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — one of the original five.

The Security Council is the United Nations organ with primary responsibility for international peace and security, and the only one whose decisions bind all member States. It has fifteen members: five permanent, each holding a veto over substantive decisions, and ten non-permanent, elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms and distributed by region. Japan has been elected to a non-permanent seat more often than any other country, which is precisely why it makes a convincing wrong answer.

Japan is in this question because of the G4 — Japan, Germany, India and Brazil — the four States that back each other's claims to permanent seats, and because Japan is one of the largest contributors to the UN budget. Neither fact creates membership. The reliable way to hold the five is to remember that they are the principal victors of the Second World War as of 1945, which is also the reason the reform debate exists: the Council's permanent membership records the world of 1945, not of today. As of the 2023 exam no expansion had been agreed, and none has been since; the Intergovernmental Negotiations process at the General Assembly continues without a text.

• Article 23 of the UN Charter fixes the Council at fifteen members and names the five permanent ones.
• The Charter still reads 'the Republic of China' and 'the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics'; those seats are held today by the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation.
• Ten non-permanent members are elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms, and a retiring member is not eligible for immediate re-election.
• Only the five permanent members hold the veto, which applies to substantive but not procedural questions.
• Japan, Germany, India and Brazil form the G4 group, each supporting the others' bid for permanent membership.

• Treating large budget contributions or G4 membership as evidence of a permanent seat.
• Assuming the Charter was amended when the China and Soviet seats changed hands; the text was not touched.
• Mixing up the two-year term of non-permanent members with the three-year term used in some other UN bodies.

As an odd-one-out among four major powers, or as a statements item on the number, term and regional spread of the non-permanent members.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  How many non-permanent members does the United Nations Security Council have, and for what term are they elected?

  • (a)Six members for three years
  • (b)Ten members for two years
  • (c)Ten members for three years
  • (d)Fifteen members for two years

  Answer(b) Ten members for two years — the Council has fifteen members in all, five permanent and ten elected by the General Assembly.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which group of countries supports each other's claim to permanent membership of the UN Security Council?

  • (a)G7
  • (b)BRICS
  • (c)G4
  • (d)BASIC

  Answer(c) G4 — Japan, Germany, India and Brazil, formed to press for permanent seats on an enlarged Council.