The contemporary multiplicity of crises and armed conflicts across the globe, including those in Ukraine, the South China Sea and the Central African Republic, the continuing emergence and consolidation of (regionally limited) power by non-state actors challen-ging the order in various domestic and regional contexts, including al-Qaida, Boko Haram and ISIL, as well as regional security threats imposed by pandemics such as Ebola, and climate change induced migration suggest structural deficits of the global security system and intergovernmental security governance in general, and question the United Nations Security Council's (UNSC) capacity to respond adequately, in specific.
Structural deficits of the UNSC – the highest decision-making body of the UN system on security issues – have been addressed on multiple occasions since the Council's creation in 1946. Since then, the body has been the target of various reform proposals by UN organs, blocs of member states as well as other both intergovernmental and supranational institutions. A substantial share of the international community of states is confident about the necessity for reforming the UN system and its key decision-making organ for international security, peace and conflict prevention. However the exclusive veto powers allocated to the UNSC's five permanent members (the P5), its repeated misusage whenever matters of vital importance to a permanent member are concerned, and individual actors' interests and preferences have been preventing any comprehensive amendment of the institution.
The paper addresses this key issue of current debate in international relations and security studies, and in particular the research on reformatory efforts within multi-national, intergovernmental institutions and the design of the international security governance. Special regard is paid to the UN system as the key actor in conceptualizing and executing decision-making related to the maintenance of global security and its questioned capacity to effectively tackle and respond to challenges within the international system of states. Therewith, the paper queues the stunning range of analyses on how to solve the repeated claim of the UNSC's deficiency. Subsequently, three central questions will be examined in-depth hereafter: Which deficits shape and define the current status quo of the UNSC? What reform proposals have been made, what shortfalls do they address and what measures do they propose? And: What are the preferences and attitudes of those in the center of any reform, the P5, and how likely is a reform with regards to their positioning?
