The UN Security Council (UNSC) is the principal organ of the United Nations responsible for international peace and security; it has 15 members, five permanent members with veto power (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) and ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms.
Deep-dive lesson:Global Institutions and Groupings. This page is a quick reference that connects the term across subjects; read the lesson for the full treatment.
The UN was created in 1945 by the victors of the Second World War to prevent another global war. The Security Council was given primary responsibility for maintaining peace, and the major allied powers became permanent members with veto power, on the argument that the UN would only work if the great powers agreed. The failure of the League of Nations, which lacked enforcement and great-power participation, shaped this design.
Through the Cold War, the veto often paralysed the Council, but it authorised peacekeeping missions and some major actions, such as in Korea in 1950 (during a Soviet boycott) and the Gulf War of 1990–91. After the Cold War, the Council became more active, setting up tribunals, sanctions regimes and many peacekeeping operations, though deep divisions have returned in recent years over crises such as Syria and Ukraine.
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