(NEW YORK) — The Biden administration has announced plans to expand the influential United Nations Security Council by adding two permanent seats for African nations — an initiative that will likely face an uphill battle in the body and could spark pushback from other countries that have long sought permanent membership.
“It’s what our African partners seek, and we believe, this is what it’s what is just,” U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in announcing the plan during a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations on Thursday.
But the administration’s plan comes with an important caveat: Unlike the other permanent members of the Council — China, France, Great Britain, Russia, and the U.S. — the African representatives would not have the power to veto any resolution that comes before the body.
The African Union has already rejected the prospect of denying veto power to the new permanent members from the continent, but a senior administration official argued that even without it, the seats would still have great benefits for Africa.
“Representation is a part of it. Permanent representation does offer perspective and the durability of that perspective on the Council that is otherwise not afforded necessarily by a rotating seat,” the official said. “I can tell you that when we have been briefing these ideas to some of those partners in recent days, we have had an enthusiastic reception.”
The official acknowledged there are still “questions that will need to be worked out,” including determining which countries would fill the new spots. Thomas-Greenfield did not explicitly say which U.N. members the administration would endorse but spoke positively about recent contributions from Kenya and Gabon during her remarks.
This is not the first time the administration has sought to expand the Security Council. In 2022, President Biden announced he supported “increasing the number of both permanent and non-permanent representatives,” with representatives from Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. He has also endorsed Germany, India, and Japan for permanent spots.
However, Biden’s push to expand the Council — and a host of other U.S. initiatives — have faced consistent gridlock from Russia and China.
A senior official denied that the administration’s new, narrower focus on adding African representatives was an admission that broader expansion and the inclusion of ardent U.S. allies like Germany and Japan was currently unachievable.
“The proposals that we’re putting forward today are additive to what we’ve said over the years,” they said. “But our view on this is that we cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good, and we can and should still try to achieve a reformed Council that is more representative, is more credible, and ultimately more effective in addressing the challenges and opportunities that the world faces today. “
Thomas-Greenfield also announced that the administration would move to add a new, elected position on the Security Council to serve as an envoy for small developing island nations. If successful, it would be the first cross-regional seat.
The ambassador concluded by declaring that the U.S. was prepared to move forward with “text-based negotiations” aimed at making the vision a reality.
“This may seem weedy, inside-baseball news. But it’s actually a big deal,” she said. “It means we’re ready to work with other countries to negotiate language, prepare amendments, and ready this resolution for a vote in the General Assembly, and ultimately amend the U.N. Charter.”
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