Title: Legitimacy of Power: The Permanence of Five in the Security Council
Author: Dilip Sinha
Publisher: VIJ Books
Pages: 332
Price: Rs 595
Former diplomat Dilip Sinha’s book on the United Nations Security Council is a must read for all who want to know about the P5, and how they have ensured that no other country gets into this charmed circle. The UNSC continues to reflect the world as it was after the allied victory in the second world war. The victors rule the roost, though the world has changed dramatically since then and there is clamour by emerging countries to expand the UNSC. Both Britain and France have lost their former glory but enjoy the status they had at the end of the war.
For Indian readers, Sinha’s book will explain why despite two decades of hectic diplomacy and the promise by all visiting dignitaries that India should find a place in an expanded UNSC, there is no forward movement. Nationalistic Indians eager to see their country on the UN high table, cannot understand why it is taking so long. It is also not just India, but Brazil, South Africa, Egypt and several other countries are knocking for admission. Germany and Japan the defeated powers are also in the race. Since the end of the Great War, the two nations have succeeded in rebuilding their economies and have contributed generously to the UN coffers. They too want a place in an expanded UNSC. This book will give everyone an idea why expansion of the UNSC is not a priority for the P5.
But it offers much more. “This book is a study of international security cooperation and its moorings in international law from the perspective of the countries of the South,” the author explains in his introduction. The primary task of the UNSC is to maintain international security and peace. It is the only international body that can call for military action to maintain world peace. Over the years the mandate of the UNSC has expanded to take on major human rights abuse by governments, terrorism, democracy, climate change and sustainable development efforts.
Yet in the early years the UNSC was reluctant to take on human rights violations. In fact, in the early years of apartheid, the Security Council was hesitant on passing strictures against the White racist government of South Africa. Opinion was divided on whether UNSC had the right to interfere in the domestic affairs of a sovereign nation. It was not the P-5, but the UN General Assembly that put pressure on the Security Council to finally change its views.
The UN veto have been used by the major players to protect their own interests. After the end of the Cold War the UNSC worked briefly in unison, but as relations between US and Russia deteriorated over NATO expansion, the crisis in Ukraine, Russia’s annexation of Crimea, the UNSC has gone back to its old ways. The power play continues to dominate the UNSC working. A powerful China is also gradually emerging as a new player — siding with Russia usually batting for Pakistan when needed and keeping watch over its overall interests.
For those interested in learning the inner workings of the UNSC, its history as well as what to expect in the future, Dilip Sinha’s book has it all. It is written in a lucid reader-friendly style, without the stilted language and jargon which South Asian academics love. It’s a simple prose that tells a complicated tale, without confusing the average reader.
