South Africa and Nigeria talk Security Council reform

South African president Jacob Zuma and his Nigerian counterpart Goodluck Jonathan met this week and downplayed the notion that the countries are in competition for a permanent Security Council seat: Jonathan told a joint sitting of Parliament that the need to work together was evident in instances like the drive to secure Africa a permanent ...

By , a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.

South African president Jacob Zuma and his Nigerian counterpart Goodluck Jonathan met this week and downplayed the notion that the countries are in competition for a permanent Security Council seat:

South African president Jacob Zuma and his Nigerian counterpart Goodluck Jonathan met this week and downplayed the notion that the countries are in competition for a permanent Security Council seat:

Jonathan told a joint sitting of Parliament that the need to work together was evident in instances like the drive to secure Africa a permanent seat on the United Nations’ Security Council.

“If South Africa and Nigeria do not lead that struggle, then who will lead that struggle?” he asked, after denying that Africa’s two biggest economies were competing for a position that is still hypothetical.

That notion was “very wrong”, he said.

There are some signs that Security Council reform will soon get another push. Brazil’s foreign minister, Antonio Patriota, recently hosted a seminar on the subject in Brazil that included Indian, German, Japanese, and South African diplomats. For other signs of stirring on the issue, see here, here and here. If the slow-moving process does gather pace, the position of the African group at the UN—which includes 54  states—will likely determine whether a reform package can secure the required two-thirds support in the General Assembly.

David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist

More from Foreign Policy

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.

Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?

The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.

Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.
Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.

Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World

It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

It’s a New Great Game. Again.

Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.

Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.
Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing

The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.