The use of veto power on Africa’s many crises (the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mali, South Sudan, Somalia) and a general rejection of any criticism, sanctions or criminal prosecution of governments involved in war crimes and human rights violations risk thwarting the progress that has been achieved by the UN and African Union in overcoming a culture of impunity. It is of utmost importance to keep the Security Council unblocked and prevent spill-over effects from the Syrian crisis into other issue areas affecting the African continent. South Africa should take a keen interest in defusing tensions before they spiral out of control. The costs and consequences of great power rivalry are most likely carried by smaller and developing countries, as they tend to rely more on global governance institutions and have limited influence on global affairs. It used its veto rights 11 times since joining the Security Council in the 1970s six of these alone were after 2011.ĭebating the Syrian issue in the Security Council has become a battlefield for great power interests to the detriment of actually solving the conflict or ameliorating the dire humanitarian crisis which has deepened over the years. While China was once regarded as a reluctant power that chose to abstain from voting rather than veto decisions, this has now changed. Since 2011 we have seen the use of the veto privilege on 12 occasions by Russia and six by China. The fear that sanctions and criminal prosecution could prepare a regime change approach, as happened in Libya in 2011, is also often cited by the two countries as a reason not to act against al-Assad. While Western and Arab states submitted several draft resolutions to refer the Syrian crisis to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and impose sanctions for the government’s alleged use of chemical weapons, Russia and China have vetoed any resolutions that appeared, in their eyes, to be one-sided. Hard battles are fought over the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Great power polarity has also returned to the Security Council, where the Syrian conflict takes centre stage. The deliberate dismantling of the Iran nuclear deal, the unilateral abandoning of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement and the disunity shown at the recent G7 summit in Canada are visible signs of disintegration. The British vote to leave the European Union and the election of Donald Trump in the United States contribute to a demise of multilateralism and global/regional governance institutions. While initially developing countries from outside the Western world were seen as contenders to the liberal world order, this order has now come under strain from within the West itself. In this environment of increased polarisation and declining multilateralism what can and should be the priorities for South Africa at the UNSC?ĭepolarisation should be priority number one Today we are confronted with increasing great power rivalry and disintegration of global governance institutions. The following decade was shaped by a debate on rising powers and the formation of the BRICS (Brazil-Russia India-China-South Africa) bloc. At the beginning of the millennium the discourse focused on global governance issues and formulation of Millennium Development Goals. We are witnessing an increase in polarisation and great power rivalries in world affairs. World politics has changed significantly since then. South Africa first served on the Council in 2007-2008 under President Thabo Mbeki, and then in 2011-2012 under President Jacob Zuma. Furthermore, any adoption of a resolution (which is binding) requires affirmative votes by the non-permanent members too, as nine positive votes are required to pass a resolution of the 15-member council. Although non-permanent members have no veto rights and only serve for two years, they enjoy a political legitimacy the P5 do not possess as they are elected members of the world community. It will serve alongside Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea as African members of the Council (A3).ĭespite the criticism the UN receives because of its often-limited success in bringing peace and development for all, membership of the Council is still regarded as the ultimate foreign policy ‘prize’. South Africa will join the United Nations Security Council as a non-permanent member for a third term in 2019-2020, having secured 183 of 193 votes in the 8 June election.
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