Dear Editor,
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has spoken not only for Germany but for several other emerging economies such as India and Brazil when she said that it is high time for the United Nations Security Council to be reformed to reflect the real distribution of power across the world.
The current power configuration in the Security Council is highly skewed in favour of five countries which are permanent members with veto powers.
These countries are Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.
The world has changed dramatically since the end of the Second World War and is certainly not reflective of changing power dynamics. Germany and Japan are today powerful players on the international stage with a huge financial contribution to the United Nations but they are not permanent members.
The same can be said for India and Brazil even though their financial contribution may not be as significant as that of Germany and France.
The veto power en-joyed by the five powers is largely responsible for gridlock at the Security Council on several major international issues, such as the failure to arrive at unanimity on how to treat such burning issues as Palestinian statehood, the Iranian nuclear threat and the ongoing Syrian crisis which has now escalated to a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented proportions.
Yours faithfully,
Hydar Ally
