Editing United Nations Security Council (section)

=== Permanent members ===
{{Main|Permanent members of the United Nations Security Council}}
{{See also|China and the United Nations|France and the United Nations|Russia and the United Nations|Soviet Union and the United Nations|United Kingdom and the United Nations|United States and the United Nations}}

The Security Council's five permanent members, below, have the power to [[United Nations Security Council veto power|veto]] any substantive resolution; this allows a permanent member to block adoption of a resolution, but not to prevent or end debate.{{sfn|Fasulo|2004|pp=40–41}}

{| class="wikitable"
|- "
! width=14% | Country
! width=18% | Regional group
! width=34% | Current state representation
! width=34% | Former state representation
|-
|style="background:#EAECF0"| {{flag|China}}
|[[Group of Asia and the Pacific Small Island Developing States|Asia-Pacific]]
|{{flagicon|China}} [[China|People's Republic of China]]
|{{flagicon|Taiwan}} [[China and the United Nations#Republic of China in the United Nations (1945–1971)|Republic of China]]{{efn|name=China|On 25 October 1971, with opposition from the United States, the [[People's Republic of China]] on the [[Mainland China|mainland]] was given the Chinese seat on the Security Council in place of the [[Republic of China]] on the [[Taiwan (island)|island of Taiwan]]. The [[Charter of the United Nations]] still lists the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] as the member.}} ([[Republic of China (1912-1949)|1945–1949]],<br/>[[Taiwan|1949–1971]])
|-
|style="background:#EAECF0"|{{flag|France}}
|[[Western European and Others Group|Western Europe and Others]]
|{{flagicon|France}} [[French Fifth Republic|French Republic]]
|{{flagicon|France|1794}} [[Provisional Government of the French Republic|Provisional Govt.]] (1945–1946)<br/>[[French Fourth Republic|Fourth Republic]] (1946–1958)
|-
|style="background:#EAECF0"|{{flag|Russia}}
|[[Eastern European Group|Eastern Europe]]
|{{flagicon|Russia}} [[Russia|Russian Federation]]
|{{flagicon|Soviet Union}} [[Soviet Union|Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]] (1945–1991){{efn|name=ussr}}
|-
|style="background:#EAECF0"|{{flag|United Kingdom}}
|[[Western European and Others Group|Western Europe and Others]]
|{{nowrap|{{flagicon|UK}} [[United Kingdom|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland]]}}
|{{N/A}}
|-
|style="background:#EAECF0"|{{flag|United States}}
|[[Western European and Others Group|Western Europe and Others]]
|{{flagicon|United States}} [[United States|United States of America]]
|{{N/A}}
|}

At the UN's founding in 1945, the five permanent members of the Security Council were the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]], [[France]] (represented by the [[Provisional Government of the French Republic]]), the [[Soviet Union]], the United Kingdom, and the United States. There have been two major seat changes since then. [[China and the United Nations|China's seat]] was originally held by [[Chiang Kai-shek]]'s [[Nationalist Government]], the Republic of China. However, the Nationalists were forced to retreat to the [[Geography of Taiwan|island of Taiwan]] in 1949, during the [[Chinese Civil War]]. The [[Chinese Communist Party]] assumed control of [[mainland China]], thenceforth known as the People's Republic of China. In 1971, [[United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758|General Assembly Resolution 2758]] recognized the People's Republic as the [[One-China policy|rightful representative of China]] in the UN and gave it the seat on the Security Council that had been held by the Republic of China, which was expelled from the UN altogether with [[Taiwan and the United Nations|no opportunity for membership as a separate nation]].{{sfn|Meisler|1995|pp=195–197}} After the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] in 1991, the Russian Federation was recognized as the [[succession of states|legal successor state]] of the Soviet Union and maintained the latter's position on the Security Council.{{sfn|Blum|1992}}

The five permanent members of the Security Council were the victorious powers in World War II{{sfn|Kennedy|2006|p=70}} and have maintained the world's most powerful military forces ever since. They annually topped the [[List of countries by military expenditures|list of countries with the highest military expenditures]].<ref name=SIPRI>{{cite web |url=http://www.sipri.org/research/armaments/milex |title=SIPRI Military Expenditure Database |publisher=Stockholm International Peace Research Institute |access-date=26 November 2013 |archive-date=24 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160524130032/http://www.sipri.org/research/armaments/milex |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2013, they spent over US$1&nbsp;trillion combined on defence, accounting for over 55% of global military expenditures (the US alone accounting for over 35%).<ref name=SIPRI/> They are also amongst the world's [[Arms industry#World's largest arms exporters|largest arms exporters]]<ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.reuters.com/article/us-arms-treaty-idUSBRE86Q1MW20120727 | title= United Nations fails to agree landmark arms-trade treaty | first= Michelle | last= Nichols | date= 27 July 2012 | work= Reuters | access-date= 26 November 2013 | archive-date= 16 March 2016 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160316212137/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-arms-treaty-idUSBRE86Q1MW20120727 | url-status= live}}</ref> and are the only nations officially recognized as "[[List of states with nuclear weapons|nuclear-weapon states]]" under the [[Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty]] (NPT), though there are other states known or believed to be in possession of nuclear weapons.{{cn|date=February 2023}}

The block of Western democratic and generally aligned permanent members (France, the UK and the US) is styled as the "P3".

==== Veto power ====
{{Main|United Nations Security Council veto power}}
{{See also|List of vetoed United Nations Security Council resolutions}}

Under [[United Nations Security Council veto power#UN Charter|Article 27]] of the UN Charter, Security Council decisions on all substantive matters require the affirmative votes of nine (i.e. three-fifths) of the members. A negative vote or a "veto" by a permanent member prevents adoption of a proposal, even if it has received the required votes.{{sfn|Fasulo|2004|pp=40–41}} Abstention is not regarded as a veto in most cases, though all five permanent members must vote for adopting any amendment of the UN Charter.{{sfn|Fomerand|2009|p=287}} Procedural matters cannot be vetoed, so the veto right cannot be used to avoid discussion of an issue. The same holds for certain non-binding decisions that directly regard permanent members.{{sfn|Fasulo|2004|pp=40–41}} Most vetoes have been used for blocking a candidate for Secretary-General or the admission of a member state, not in critical international security situations.<ref name=Veto/>

In the negotiations leading up to the creation of the UN, the veto power was opposed by many small countries and was in fact forced on them by the veto nations—the United States, the United Kingdom, China, France, and the Soviet Union—by threatening that the UN would otherwise not be founded. [[Francis O. Wilcox]], an adviser to the US delegation to the 1945 conference, described the situation:

{{blockquote|At San Francisco, the issue was made crystal clear by the leaders of the Big Five: it was either the Charter with the veto or no Charter at all. Senator Connally [from the U.S. delegation] dramatically tore up a copy of the Charter during one of his speeches and reminded the small states that they would be guilty of that same act if they opposed the unanimity principle. "You may, if you wish," he said, "go home from this Conference and say that you have defeated the veto. But what will be your answer when you are asked: 'Where is the Charter?{{'"}}{{sfn|Wilcox|1945}}}}

{{As of|2012}}, 269 vetoes had been cast since the Security Council's inception.{{efn|This figure and the figures that follow exclude vetoes cast to block candidates for Secretary-General, as these occur in closed session; 43 such vetoes have occurred.<ref name=Veto/>}} In this period, China used the veto 9 times, France 18, the Soviet Union or Russia 128, the United Kingdom 32, and the United States 89. Roughly two-thirds of Soviet and Russian combined vetoes were in the first ten years of the Security Council's existence. Between 1996 and 2012,
the United States vetoed 13 resolutions, Russia 7, and China 5, whilst France and the United Kingdom did not use the veto.<ref name=Veto>{{cite web |url= http://www.globalpolicy.org/images/pdfs/Changing_Patterns_in_the_Use_of_the_Veto_as_of_August_2012.pdf |title=Changing Patterns in the Use of the Veto in The Security Council |publisher=Global Policy Forum |access-date=26 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160114211630/https://www.globalpolicy.org/images/pdfs/Changing_Patterns_in_the_Use_of_the_Veto_as_of_August_2012.pdf |archive-date=14 January 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

An early veto by Soviet Commissar [[Andrei Vishinsky]] blocked a resolution on the withdrawal of French forces from Syria and Lebanon which were under [[Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon|French mandate]] in February 1946; this veto established the precedent that permanent members could use the veto on matters outside of immediate concerns of war and peace. The Soviet Union went on to veto matters including the admission of Austria, Cambodia, Ceylon, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Laos, Libya, Nepal,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Times |first=A. M. Rosenthalspecial To the New York |date=1949-09-08 |title=RUSSIA'S 31ST VETO IN U. N. BARS NEPAL; Nine Nations in the Security Council Vote for Admitting Country to Membership |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1949/09/08/archives/russias-31st-veto-in-u-n-bars-nepal-nine-nations-in-the-security.html |access-date=2023-01-18 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=18 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118234356/https://www.nytimes.com/1949/09/08/archives/russias-31st-veto-in-u-n-bars-nepal-nine-nations-in-the-security.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Portugal, South Vietnam and Transjordan as UN member states, delaying their joining by several years. The United Kingdom and France used the veto to avoid Security Council condemnation of their actions in the 1956 Suez Crisis. The first veto by the United States came in 1970, blocking General Assembly action in [[Southern Rhodesia]]. From 1985 to 1990, the US vetoed 27 resolutions, primarily to block resolutions perceived as anti-Israel but also to protect its interests in Panama and Korea. The Soviet Union, the United States and China have all vetoed candidates for Secretary-General, with the US using the veto to block the re-election of [[Boutros Boutros-Ghali]] in 1996.{{sfn|Kennedy|2006|pp=52–54}}