Global Policy Forum

Says Expansion Efforts Will Fail

By Beth Gardiner

John R. Bolton, America's ambassador to the United Nations, predicted yesterday that efforts to greatly expand the Security Council would fail. Bolton's remarks were a rare case of a US official publicly speculating on the outcome of a bitter debate to overhaul the Security Council. In the past, he and other officials have repeated strong US opposition to rival proposals for adding at least 10 seats to the 15-nation body.

Bolton, who has made overhauling the United Nations a priority since President Bush appointed him to the job, said the world body must become more efficient, effective, and accountable. Making the Security Council too large would undermine that goal, he said. Increasing the number of seats to 25 or 26 ''gives us great pause," he said, adding that the maximum that Washington could support would be 20 seats.

US opposition is a key factor because there is no consensus among the 191 UN member states on how to expand the council. Also, while the United States does not have the power to block a vote in the General Assembly, where there are no vetoes, its support would be crucial when necessary changes to the UN charter would have to be approved by national legislatures.

Giving his first talk in Europe since taking his post in August, Bolton noted previous efforts to restructure the powerful Security Council had foundered. ''Our prediction would be that this latest effort at changing the composition of the council is not going to succeed," he said at the Chatham House foreign affairs think tank. He reiterated Washington's support for Japan's bid to become a permanent member of the council, but did not say what other countries America might back.

While there is widespread support for expanding the council to reflect geopolitical changes since the UN founding 60 years ago, there is no agreement on how large it should be, who should get seats, whether new seats should be permanent or temporary, and who should have veto power. The council currently consists of five permanent members with veto power -- the United States, Britain, Russia, China, and France -- and 10 nonpermanent members that serve two-year terms and cannot block resolutions.

Japan teamed with Brazil, Germany, and India in proposing a 25-member council, including six new permanent seats without veto power. All four hope to get a permanent seat, and say the two others should go to African nations. But the African Union has insisted on veto power for its two seats and an additional nonpermanent seat. Another group, led by Italy and Pakistan, also calls for a 25-nation council but argues against making any of the new seats permanent and wants the 10 new members elected. Neither group has mustered the required support.

On other matters, Bolton reiterated that Washington is prepared to work outside the United Nations if the world body's flaws cannot be repaired. ''We look at it in a kind of cost-benefit way," he said. ''If it's not solving problems, what do we do to fix it? And if we can't fix it, where else can we look to have those problems solved?"

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