Explainer · World
The UN Security Council and the Veto, Explained
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Short answer: The UN Security Council has 15 members: five permanent members (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) and ten members elected for two-year terms. Substantive decisions need nine votes, including the concurring votes of all five permanent members, so a single “no” from any of the five blocks a resolution. That is the veto. An abstention does not block.
Who sits on the Council
Article 23 of the UN Charter says “The Security Council shall consist of fifteen Members of the United Nations,” five of them permanent. The General Assembly elects the other ten for two-year terms. The Charter still names the Republic of China and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; the Council today lists its permanent members as China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States.
How voting works
Article 27 sets the rules. Each member has one vote. Procedural decisions need nine votes. Decisions “on all other matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine members including the concurring votes of the permanent members.”
In the Council’s own explanation, the drafters agreed that if any one of the five permanent members “cast a negative vote in the 15-member Security Council, the resolution or decision would not be approved.” All five have used the veto at one time or another. A permanent member that disagrees but does not want to block a measure “may choose to abstain, thus allowing the resolution to be adopted if it obtains the required number of nine favourable votes.” The UN’s Dag Hammarskjöld Library keeps a list of every veto cast since 1946.
What the Council can do
- Binding decisions: under Article 25, UN members “agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council in accordance with the present Charter.”
- Threats to the peace: under Article 39, the Council determines whether there is a threat to the peace, breach of the peace or act of aggression.
- Sanctions: Article 41 allows measures short of force, including “complete or partial interruption of economic relations” and severing diplomatic relations.
- Force: if those measures are inadequate, Article 42 allows action “by air, sea, or land forces.”
Two limits matter. Article 51 preserves “the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs,” the right NATO’s treaty relies on (see NATO Article 5). And Article 2(7) says nothing in the Charter authorizes the UN “to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state,” though that does not limit enforcement measures under Chapter VII.
Why the veto is so hard to change
Changing the veto means amending the Charter. Article 108 says amendments take effect only when adopted by two-thirds of the General Assembly and ratified by two-thirds of UN members “including all the permanent members of the Security Council.” In practice, each of the five can block any change to its own veto.
Analysis What this means: our view
For Americans, the veto is a safeguard of sovereignty. No binding Security Council resolution can pass over the objection of the United States, and that protection should never be traded away in the name of “reform.”
The same rule explains the Council’s limits. Because Russia and China hold the same power, the Council cannot act against their interests or their clients. That is a reason for realism, not faith, about what the UN can deliver. The United States should work through the UN where it serves American interests and rely on its own strength and on alliances of willing partners where it does not.
International institutions answer to governments, and American policy should answer to American voters. Follow global diplomacy in our World coverage.
This section is World Brief Now’s opinion. The facts above are drawn from the sources listed below; see our sources and methods.
Frequently asked questions
Which countries have a veto at the UN?
The five permanent members of the Security Council: China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Does abstaining count as a veto?
No. The Security Council says a permanent member that does not fully agree with a resolution but does not wish to veto it may abstain, allowing the resolution to pass if it gets the required nine votes.
Can the veto be abolished?
Only by amending the UN Charter. Under Article 108, amendments take effect only when adopted by two-thirds of the General Assembly and ratified by two-thirds of UN members, including all the permanent members of the Security Council.
Sources
- UN Charter, Chapter V: The Security Council — United Nations
- UN Charter, Chapter VII: Action with Respect to Threats to the Peace — United Nations
- UN Charter, Chapter I: Purposes and Principles — United Nations
- UN Charter, Chapter XVIII: Amendments — United Nations
- Security Council: Current Members — United Nations Security Council
- Security Council: Voting System — United Nations Security Council
- Security Council: Functions and Powers — United Nations Security Council
- Security Council Vetoes (research guide and veto list) — UN Dag Hammarskjöld Library
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