Should the African Union be granted a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council?

Abstract

The United Nations Security Council is facing its biggest test for legitimacy. Calls for its reform have grown louder in recent years, becoming a focal point in debates in the United Nations General Assembly. The Africa Union has been at the forefront of the calls for reforms, arguing that the Security Council is undemocratic and under-representative of the developing world. In particular, the African Union has been vocal about the need for the region to have two permanent members with veto power in the Security Council, it being the only continent that is not represented in the permanent category of the Security Council despite being the largest continent by the number of states and home to the bulk of the Security Council’s missions. This paper analyzes the intricacies concerning the debate on Security Council reforms, with particular interest to the African Union position, including the prospects of success in reforms and the representative nature of its leading candidates.