Editing United Nations Security Council (section)

== Criticism and evaluations ==
{{Main|Criticism of the United Nations}}
In examining the first sixty years of the Security Council's existence, British historian [[Paul Kennedy]] concludes that "glaring failures had not only accompanied the UN's many achievements, they overshadowed them", identifying as particular failures the lack of will to prevent ethnic massacres in Bosnia and Rwanda.{{sfn|Kennedy|2006|pp=101–103, 110}} Kennedy attributes the failures to the UN's lack of reliable military resources, writing that "above all, one can conclude that the practice of announcing (through a Security Council resolution) a new peacekeeping mission without ensuring that sufficient armed forces will be available has usually proven to be a recipe for humiliation and disaster."{{sfn|Kennedy|2006|p=110}}

Several studies have examined the Security Council's responsiveness to armed conflict. Findings suggests that the Council is more likely to meet and deliberate on conflicts that are more intense and have led to more humanitarian suffering, but that its responsiveness is also shaped by the political interests of member states and in particular of the permanent members.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Lundgren |first1= Magnus|last2= Klamberg |first2= Mark|date= 2022 |title=Selective Attention: The United Security Council and Armed Conflict |journal= British Journal of Political Science |volume= 53|issue= 3|doi= 10.1017/S0007123422000461 |doi-access= free}}</ref> 

A 2005 [[RAND Corporation]] study found the UN to be successful in two out of three peacekeeping efforts. It compared UN nation-building efforts to those of the United States, and found that 88% of UN cases had led to lasting peace.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2005/RAND_MG304.sum.pdf|author=RAND Corporation|title=The UN's Role in Nation Building: From the Congo to Iraq|access-date=30 December 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050220232620/https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2005/RAND_MG304.sum.pdf|archive-date=20 February 2005|url-status=live}}</ref> Also in 2005, the [[Human Security Report 2005|Human Security Report]] documented a decline in the number of wars, genocides and human rights abuses since the end of the Cold War, and presented evidence, albeit circumstantial, that international activism—mostly spearheaded by the UN—had been the main cause of the decline in armed conflict since the end of the Cold War.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.humansecurityreport.info/|author=Human Security Centre|title=The Human Security Report 2005|access-date=8 February 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://swap.stanford.edu/20090728163300/http%3A//www.humansecurityreport.info/|archive-date=28 July 2009}}</ref>

Scholar Sudhir Chella Rajan argued in 2006 that the five permanent members of the Security Council, all of which are nuclear powers, had created an exclusive [[nuclear club]] that predominantly addresses the strategic interests and political motives of the permanent members{{mdash}}for example, protecting the oil-rich Kuwaitis in 1991 but poorly protecting the resource-poor Rwandans in 1994.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Rajan |first=Sudhir Chella |title=Global Politics and Institutions |url=http://www.gtinitiative.org/documents/PDFFINALS/3Politics.pdf |journal=GTI Paper Series: Frontiers of a Great Transition |volume=3 |publisher=Tellus Institute |year=2006 |access-date=11 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061028135640/http://www.gtinitiative.org/documents/PDFFINALS/3Politics.pdf |archive-date=28 October 2006 |url-status=live}}</ref> Since three of the five permanent members are European, and four are predominantly white developed nations, the Security Council has been described as a pillar of [[global apartheid]] by Titus Alexander, former Chair of the Westminster United Nations Association.{{sfn|Alexander|1996|pp=158–160}}

The Security Council's effectiveness and relevance are questioned by some because, in most high-profile cases, there are essentially no consequences for violating a Security Council resolution. During the [[Darfur crisis]], [[Janjaweed]] militias, allowed by elements of the Sudanese government, committed violence against an indigenous population, killing thousands of civilians. In the [[Srebrenica massacre]], Serbian troops committed genocide against [[Bosniaks]], although [[Srebrenica]] had been declared a UN [[safe area (Bosnian War)|safe area]], protected by 400 armed Dutch peacekeepers.{{sfn|Deni|2007|p=71|ps=: "As Serbian forces attacked Srebrenica in July 1995, the [400] Dutch soldiers escorted women and children out of the city, leaving behind roughly 7,500 Muslim men who were subsequently massacred by the attacking Serbs."}}

In his 2009 speech, [[Muammar Gaddafi]] criticized the Security Council's veto powers and the wars that permanent members of the Security Council had engaged in.

The [[UN Charter]] gives all three powers of the [[legislative]], executive and [[judiciary]] branches to the Security Council.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Creery |first=Janet |title=Read the fine print first |year=2004 |url=http://peacemagazine.org/archive/v10n1p20.htm |journal=[[Peace Magazine]] |issue=Jan–Feb 1994 |page=20 |access-date=11 December 2011 |archive-date=7 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111207044853/http://www.peacemagazine.org/archive/v10n1p20.htm |url-status=live}}</ref>

In his inaugural speech at the [[16th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement]] in August 2012, [[Ayatollah Ali Khamenei]] criticized the Security Council as having an "illogical, unjust and completely undemocratic structure and mechanism" and called for a complete reform of the body.<ref name="test">[https://web.archive.org/web/20120831155453/http://www.namna.ir/en/homeen/28-english-latest-news/1128-supreme-leader-s-inaugural-speech-at-16th-nam-summit.html "Supreme Leader's Inaugural Speech at 16th NAM Summit"]. Non-Aligned Movement News Agency. Retrieved 31 August 2012.</ref>

The Security Council has been criticized for failure in resolving many conflicts{{mdash}}including [[Cyprus problem|Cyprus]], [[Sri Lankan civil war|Sri Lanka]], [[Syrian civil war|Syria]], [[Kosovo War|Kosovo]], and the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]]{{mdash}}reflecting the wider shortcomings of the UN.
For example, at the 68th Session of the UN General Assembly, New Zealand Prime Minister [[John Key]] heavily criticized the UN's inaction on [[Syria]], more than two years after the Syrian civil war had begun.<ref>[http://www.3news.co.nz/Key-compromises-on-UN-Syria-deal/tabid/1607/articleID/315021/Default.aspx Key compromises on UN Syria deal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930183756/http://www.3news.co.nz/Key-compromises-on-UN-Syria-deal/tabid/1607/articleID/315021/Default.aspx |date=30 September 2013}}. ''3 News NZ''. 28 September 2013.</ref>

There is evidence of [[bribery]] in the Security Council. Countries that are elected to the Security Council see a large increase in foreign aid from the US, averaging 59%. They also see an 8% increase in aid from the UN, mainly from [[UNICEF]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kuziemko|first=Ilyana|date=2006-08-01|title=How Much Is a Seat on the Security Council Worth? Foreign Aid and Bribery at the United Nations|journal=Journal of Political Economy|language=en|volume=114|issue=5|pages=905–930|doi=10.1086/507155| doi-access=free|issn=0022-3808}}</ref> The increase most strongly correlates to years in which the Security Council addresses issues relevant to the US. There is also evidence of increased foreign aid to elected countries from Japan and Germany. One study found membership on the Security Council correlates with reduced economic growth for a given country over the course of its two-year term{{mdash}}3.5% growth during membership compared to 8.7% over four years of non-membership{{mdash}}although the effect is mainly driven by African authoritarian countries. Elected members also experience a reduction in democracy and [[freedom of the press]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Vreeland|first=James Raymond|date=2019-05-11|title=Corrupting International Organizations|journal=Annual Review of Political Science|language=en|volume=22|issue=1|pages=205–222|doi=10.1146/annurev-polisci-050317-071031| doi-access=free|issn=1094-2939}}</ref>