This article was  first published in the January/February 2025 (Vol.50#1) issue of the New Zealand International Review journal  under the title "A Chance for Peace".

An accelerated corruption of the power to veto any resolution in the UN Security Council by permanent members threatens the world order within the United Nations framework. The threedecades-long discussions in the format of the UN Open-Ended Working Group and then Intergovernmental Negotiations on Security Council Reform have been aiming for a complex reformation of the Security Council. With no agreement in sight today, it is paramount to prioritise a standalone resolution of a single most impactful issue — abuse of the veto privilege. Attempted calls to voluntarily restrain from opposing drafted resolutions concerning specific topics, such as mass atrocities, were ignored by three out of five permanent members. Increased international scrutiny and moral pressure at the follow-up meetings of the General Assembly over a registered veto in the Security Council proved futile.

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To ensure national and regional security, the New Zealand government must advance the legal power of the UN Charter’s provision prohibiting the use of the veto by a party to a dispute in the Security Council. This endeavour is the only remaining diplomatic hope to carve peace out of the stagnating concept of the United Nations.