“I feel that when the reforms in UN take place and the Security Council will be expanded in the permanent membership category, India will have a place, I hope so, but first it is to be expanded.” FeelsFirstsSecurityIndiaReformPermanentCategoriesCouncilMembershipSecurity Council Author:Pranab Mukherjee
“When diplomacy has been exhausted, the Security Council must become involved. Questions about Iran's nuclear activities remain unanswered, despite repeated efforts by the IAEA.” Has BeensEffortSecurityInvolvedActivityNuclearDespiteIranExhaustedDiplomacyCouncilUnansweredSecurity Council Author:Condoleezza Rice
“Reporting Iran's dossier to the UN security council will be unconstructive and the end of diplomacy.” EndsSecurityIranDiplomacyCouncilSecurity Council Author:Ali Larijani
“From now on, nothing is impossible for Israel, which is a normal country like any other. We won't wait another half a century to sit on the Security Council.” CountryWaitingHalfImpossibleCenturySecurityNormalIsraelImpossibilityCouncilNothing Is ImpossibleSecurity CouncilHalf A Century Author:Dan Gillerman
“Just as the Security Council was largely irrelevant to the great struggle of the last half of the twentieth century - freedom against Communism - so too it is largely on the sidelines in our contemporary struggles against international terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.” LastsHalfStruggleCenturySecurityWeaponsMassDestructionInternationalTerrorismContemporaryCommunismIrrelevantCouncilTwentieth CenturyWeapons Of Mass DestructionMass DestructionProliferationSidelinesSecurity CouncilInternational Terrorism Author:John Bolton
“If Saddam Hussein is unwilling to bend to the international community's already existing order, then he will have invited enforcement, even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act.” IfsStatesHandsOrderCommunityUnitedUnited StatesFailingSecurityInternationalEnforcementSaddamInvitedCouncilHusseinUnwillingInternational CommunitySecurity Council Author:John F. Kerry
“Those who insist on transferring the Iranian nuclear dossier to the UN Security Council have received an additional argument for doing so.” SecurityArgumentNuclearCouncilIranianSecurity Council Author:Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
“Unless the Security Council is restored to its pre-eminent position as the sole source of legitimacy on the use of force, we are on a dangerous path to anarchy.” UseForcePathSecurityDangerousPositionSourceAnarchySoleCouncilLegitimacySecurity CouncilUse Of Force Author:Kofi Annan
“Diplomacy is the only clear answer to the current situation. There is no legal basis for referring Iran to the Security Council. But if that were to happen Iran is not afraid.” IfsHappensAnswersSituationClearSecurityBasesCurrentsIranNot AfraidDiplomacyCouncilReferringSecurity CouncilCurrent Situation Author:Hamid-Reza Assefi
“If I were doing the Security Council today, I'd have one permanent member, the United States, because that's the real reflection of the distribution of power in the world. All international laws are invalid, meaningless attempts to constrict American power.” IfsWorldRealStatesTodayLawUnitedUnited StatesSecurityMembersReflectionInternationalPermanentMeaninglessDistributionCouncilInternational LawSecurity CouncilAmerican PowerDistribution Of Power Author:John Bolton
“The unfair composition of the Security Council is largely acknowledged. The principal defects are the anachronistic privileges of the five permanent members of the Council and the Council's insufficient representativeness.” FiveSecurityMembersPrivilegePermanentPrincipalCompositionUnfairDefectsCouncilInsufficientSecurity Council Author:Alfred-Maurice de Zayas
“The abuse of the veto power has become so predictable that frequently resolutions are not even tabled because of the certainty of a veto against their adoption. Necessary discussion is thereby suppressed. Concerted action by the Security Council, the General Assembly and other United Nations agencies is necessary to prevent major human rights violations, stop ongoing breaches and provide remedies to victims.” HumansActionNationsUnitedRightsSecurityMajorsAbuseVictimHuman RightsCertaintyDiscussionAgencyResolutionRemedyAdoptionUnited NationsCouncilOngoingViolationPredictableAssemblyBreachVetoSecurity CouncilGeneral Assembly Author:Alfred-Maurice de Zayas
“Had someone from Serbia flown a Greater Serbia flag in Tirana or Pristina, it would become an issue for the U.N. Security Council.” IssuesGreaterSecurityFlagsCouncilSerbiaSecurity Council Author:Ivica Dacic
“During my term in AU, I will initiate an organised compensation claim for Africa and I will fight for a greater voice for Africa in the United Nations Security Council. If they (Western nations) do not want to live with us fairly, it is our planet and they can go to other planet.” IfsWantFightingNationsVoiceTermUnitedGreaterSecurityPlanetsClaimsUnited NationsCouncilOur PlanetCompensationInitiateOrganisedSecurity Council Author:Muammar al-Gaddafi
“Our effort was a serious effort, genuine effort, to open the door for peace, unfortunately, the Security Council is not ready to listen to that message.” PeaceEffortDoorsSecuritySeriousReadyMessagesGenuineCouncilNot ReadySecurity Council Author:Riyad Mansour
“What the Agency [CIA] does is ordered by the President and the NSC [National Security Council]. The Agency neither makes decisions on policy nor acts on its own account. It is an instrument of the President.” DoePresidentDecisionSecurityPolicyAccountsInstrumentsAgencyNational SecurityCouncilCiaSecurity Council Author:Philip Agee
“Government is the thing. Law is the thing. Not brotherhood, not international cooperation, not security councils that can stop war only by waging it... Where does security lie, anyway - security against the thief, a bad man, the murderer? In brotherly love? Not at all. It lies in government.” MenDoeWarGovernmentLawLyingSecurityInternationalCooperationBrotherhoodThievesMurdererCouncilBad ManBrotherlyBrotherly LoveSecurity CouncilInternational CooperationStop War Author:E. B. White
“The question was never whether the United States, E.U., NATO, Arab League, U.N. Security Council, and African Union could together using economic sanctions, diplomatic pressure, and military attacks to bring Qaddafi down. The question was always how much time, how much blood, and what damage to NATO.” StatesTogetherUnitedUnited StatesBloodEconomicSecurityMilitaryPressureUnionsLeagueDamageCouncilSanctionsNatoDiplomaticSecurity CouncilEconomic SanctionsAfrican Union Author:Elliott Abrams
“The U.S. - the idea that the U.S. has introduced and imposed principles of international law, that's hardly even a joke. The United States has even gone so far as to veto Security Council resolutions calling on all states to observe international law. That was in the 1980s under Reagan.” IdeasStatesLawUnitedPrinciplesUnited StatesGoneSecurityCallingJokesInternationalResolutionCouncilInternational LawVetoSecurity CouncilAll State Author:Noam Chomsky
“How long do Syrian families have to live in fear that their children will be killed or tortured, before the Security Council will act? How many people need to die before the consciences of world capitals are stirred?” PeopleWorldNeedsChildrenLongDiesSecurityConscienceCouncilSecurity Council Author:William Hague
“The Cheney team had, for example, technological supremacy over the National Security Council staff. That is to say, they could read their e-mails. I remember one particular member of the N.S.C. staff wouldn't use e-mail because he knew they were reading it. He did a test case, kind of like the Midway battle, when we'd broken the Japanese code. He thought he'' broken the code, so he sent a test e-mail out that he knew would rile Scooter [Libby], and within an hour Scooter was in his office.” KindUseRememberReadingHoursCasesTeamSecurityExampleParticularBrokenBattleMembersOfficeTestsCodeMailStaffTechnologicalNational SecurityCouncilSupremacySecurity CouncilMidwayScooters Author:Lawrence Wilkerson
“International institutions like the Security Council, the General Assembly, the G20, the BRICs, the IMF, etc., continue to be little more than an extension of the (increasingly conflicting) values and interests of member states.” LittlesStatesValuesInterestSecurityMembersInstitutionsInternationalEtcExtensionsCouncilAssemblySecurity CouncilImfGeneral AssemblyBrics Author:Ian Bremmer
“The United States is looking at a way to launch peace with a disarmed Iraq. And so we are studying the declaration that Iraq submitted. Other members of the security council are studying the declaration, as is Unmovic and IAEA, and I would not make a judgment as to whether or not the declaration will be found deficient and whether or not that might lead to a material breach and whether or not, if it did, that would lead to action on the part of the United Nations.” IfsWayStatesMightActionFoundNationsUnitedUnited StatesStudySecurityMaterialsMembersJudgmentIraqDeclarationUnited NationsCouncilBreachSecurity Council Author:Colin Powell
“We want to approach this in a multilateral way, talking with our friends, consulting with our security council colleagues in the United Nations, hoping to find a way to solve this peacefully, but at the same time recognising that unless the threat of military force is there, Iraq will not disarm.” WayWantForceNationsUnitedTalkingSecurityMilitaryApproachThreatIraqSolveColleaguesUnited NationsCouncilConsultingMilitary ForceSecurity Council Author:Colin Powell
“The Soviet Union, and Russia as the successor state to the Soviet Union, is a founding member state of the United Nations and a permanent member of its Security Council.” StatesNationsUnitedSecurityMembersUnionsRussiaPermanentSovietSoviet UnionFoundingUnited NationsCouncilSuccessorsSecurity Council Author:Vladimir Putin
“The sanctions may be imposed only by the decision of the UN Security Council. A unilateral imposition of sanctions is a violation of international law.” MayLawDecisionSecurityInternationalCouncilViolationSanctionsInternational LawImpositionSecurity Council Author:Vladimir Putin
“How was Kosovo recognized? They forgot about the territorial integrity of a state, as well as UN Security Council Resolution 1244, which they had themselves adopted and supported. Why could it have been done there, but not in Abkhazia and South Ossetia? Why not?” WellsHas BeensStatesDoneSecurityIntegritySouthResolutionWhy NotAdoptedCouncilTerritorialSecurity CouncilKosovo Author:Vladimir Putin
“We should find other platforms, other forums for that [foreign policy], and there are plenty of them, including, for example, the UN and the Security Council.” ShouldSecurityPolicyExampleIncludingPlentyForeign PolicyPlatformsCouncilForumsSecurity Council Author:Vladimir Putin
“We can no longer stand for the Security Council passing resolutions and then in effect heaving alongside and taking a vacation. We cannot leave it to the secretary general to go cap in hand.” HandsEffectsSecurityPassingPassingsResolutionVacationSecretaryCouncilCapsSecurity Council Author:Alex J. Morrison
“Britain, Europe's second largest economy, a member of the G-7 and the UN Security Council, wants to leave the EU. That weakens us and it weakens Britain.” WantEconomySecurityMembersEuropeBritainCouncilSecurity Council Author:Martin Schulz
“In the era of Khruschev the Soviet Union had publicly declared itself a supporter of the Indian stand on Kashmir. In 1962 a Russian veto had defeated a Security Council resolution on the plebiscite issue. By 1965, and after the fall of the Kruschev regime, Russian attitudes were significantly modified.” FallAttitudeIssuesSecurityUnionsErasIndianResolutionSovietRegimesDefeatedSupporterSoviet UnionCouncilKashmirVetoSecurity Council Author:Nyla Ali Khan
“I've been going around the world; I've been to China, I sang at the General Assembly, the Security Council.” WorldSecurityChinaAround The WorldCouncilAssemblySecurity CouncilGeneral Assembly Author:Robert Davi
“My peers are all in sensitive jobs - at the C.I.A., the National Security Council, working for the Department of Defense. They can't stand up for me in public.” JobsSecurityDefenseSensitiveDepartmentPeersNational SecurityCouncilSecurity Council Author:Paula Broadwell
“If we want to expect something from this [Barack Obama] administration, it is not to be weak, to be strong to say that "we don't have evidence," that "we have to obey the international law", that "we have to go back to the Security Council and the United Nations".” IfsWantLawStrongNationsUnitedSecurityEvidenceWeakInternationalAdministrationBarackUnited NationsCouncilInternational LawSecurity Council Author:Bashar al-Assad
“Now we characterise Russian-Chinese relations as a strategic partnership, even a special strategic partnership. We have never had such a level of trust with China before. China is our major trade and economic partner among foreign states. We implement joint multi-billion projects. We cooperate not only within the UN Security Council, which is logical, as both China and Russia are permanent members of the UN Security Council, but also within such regional organisations as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, BRICS, etc.” StatesLevelsEconomicSpecialSecurityMembersProjectsMajorsRelationTradeChinaPartnersBillionsRussiaChinesePermanentEtcLogicalCooperationPartnershipCouncilJointsStrategicOrganisationSecurity CouncilShanghaiBrics Author:Vladimir Putin
“You've got to deploy serious political assets around a plan [in Darfur]. And the George W.] Bush administration has never had a plan. Ever. The Europeans don't want to do anything, saying, "The Americans are in charge of that." And in fact the Americans are in charge of naming it and bringing these resolutions every few weeks to the Security Council.” WantFactsPoliticalPlansWeekSecuritySeriousAdministrationResolutionAssetsCouncilSecurity CouncilDarfur Author:Samantha Power
“Somewhat by historical happenstance the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - United States, Britain, France, Russia, and China - also were the original five countries to have nuclear weapons.” CountryStatesUnitedUnited StatesFiveSecurityMembersWeaponsOriginalsHistoricalChinaNuclearRussiaFrancePermanentBritainNuclear WeaponsCouncilSecurity CouncilHappenstance Author:John Burroughs
“I have often said that we have two UNs; the UN that is a Secretariat, that implements the mandates handed over to it by the General Assembly and the Security Council, and the UN that is the member states who sit in the Council, take the decisions, hand over the mandates, or take decisions in the General Assembly.” SaidTwoStatesHandsDecisionSecurityMembersCouncilAssemblyMandatesSecurity CouncilGeneral Assembly Author:Kofi Annan
“The other thing that really I regretted not being able to do was to push effectively for the reform of the Security Council. Because the world was changing, and is changing very fast, and I felt the UN was holding on to old arrangements. Most governments felt that it has such a narrow power base, based on the results of the second world war.” WorldWarGovernmentAbleFeltResultsSecurityReformWar Of The WorldsArrangementsCouncilHolding OnSecond World WarSecurity Council Author:Kofi Annan
“How can you have a world of today where India is not represented in the Security Council; Japan, the second contributor, is not there; the whole continent of Africa, soon to be 54 countries, don't have a single permanent seat; and Latin America is absent? It's not realistic.” WorldCountryWholeTodayAmericaSecurityIndiaPermanentSeatsJapanLatinRealisticContinentsCouncilAbsentLatin AmericaContributorsSecurity Council Author:Kofi Annan
“When you have difficult issues on the table for discussion, then sometimes for Africa you may have Burundi or Gambia representing them on the Security Council; and then for Latin America you may have a country like Costa Rica, which is a wonderful country but they don't have the same weight as others from the other regions. And sometimes they get bullied. Sometimes their capitals come under lots of pressure to take a position.” MayCountrySometimesAmericaDifficultIssuesWonderfulSecurityPositionWeightPressureTablesDiscussionRegionsLatinCouncilRepresentingLatin AmericaBulliedSecurity CouncilCosta RicaBurundi Author:Kofi Annan
“A nation has the right to defend itself, but when it comes to the broader issue of peace and security, the legitimacy rests only with the Security Council.” NationsIssuesSecurityCouncilLegitimacySecurity CouncilPeace And Security Author:Kofi Annan
“To go to war without the Security Council will not be in conformity with the Council.” WarSecurityConformityCouncilSecurity Council Author:Kofi Annan
“The president of the United States is the commander in chief, and the people who work with him at the National Security Council are his arm in working with the Defense Department. And, quite frankly, they have responsibility for all of the government. We are one component of the government.” PeopleStatesGovernmentPresidentUnitedResponsibilityUnited StatesSecurityArmsDefenseChiefsDepartmentNational SecurityComponentsCouncilCommandersCommander In ChiefSecurity Council Author:Chuck Hagel
“I am deeply worried about Donald Trump on matters of national security. He doesn't know anything himself about it, and he has appointed a national security adviser, Mike Flynn, who is a pro-Russia conspiracy theorist, and he's just put Steve Bannon, a guy with connections to white supremacy and antisemitism, onto the National Security Council.” KnowsMatterGuyWhiteSecurityTrumpConnectionsRussiaWorriedConspiracyNational SecurityWhite SupremacyCouncilMikeSupremacyAdviserTheoristsSecurity Council Author:Tim Kaine
“The Trump administration has done some bad stuff in the international realm, picking needless fights with allies like Mexico and Australia, even using some idiotic and intemperate language about Iran, but there was one thing they did about Iran that I agree with. Which is if Iran is testing anti-ballistic missiles, it's in violation of a UN Security Council resolution. And we can't ignore that ... And they did condemn the anti-ballistic missile test. And I think they're right about that.” IfsThinkingDoneFightingLanguageStuffOne ThingSecurityTrumpTestsAgreeInternationalAdministrationRealmsAustraliaIranResolutionAlliesMexicoTestingCouncilViolationMissilesIdioticSecurity CouncilBad Stuff Author:Tim Kaine
“The United States was the one nullifying any attempt in the Security Council of the United Nations to sanction those fascist governments, really segregationist and racist. The same thing it is doing for Israel is what it used to do for South Africa who ended up having seven nuclear weapons. Why didn't they act against them like they did against Iraq for the so called weapons of mass destruction during Bush that never existed in the first place?” FirstsStatesGovernmentUsedNationsUnitedUnited StatesSecurityWeaponsMassDestructionSouthSevenIraqIsraelNuclearRacistNuclear WeaponsSouth AfricaUnited NationsCouncilSanctionsWeapons Of Mass DestructionMass DestructionFascistsSecurity Council Author:Alejandro Castro Espin
“Human rights and international criminal law both illustrate the contradictory potential of international law. On one level, the imposition of human rights norms is a restraint on interventionary diplomacy, especially if coupled with respect for the legal norm of self-determination. But on another level, the protection of human rights creates a pretext for intervention as given approval by the UN Security Council in the form of the R2P (responsibility to protect) norm, as used in the 2011 Libyan intervention. The same applies with international criminal accountability.” IfsHumansSelfFormLawUsedGivenLevelsResponsibilityRightsSecurityProtectDeterminationInternationalHuman RightsProtectionCriminalsAccountabilitySelf DeterminationApprovalRestraintNormDiplomacyCouncilInterventionContradictoryPretextInternational LawImpositionSecurity CouncilCriminal LawResponsibility To Protect Author:Richard A. Falk
“The Security Council should be seen as the executive committee of the global security system set up after World War II. Its members, and especially the Permanent 5 (P5), have a special responsibility for international peace and security.” WorldShouldWarResponsibilitySpecialSecurityMembersInternationalPermanentWar Of The WorldsExecutivesWorld War IiWorld War ICommitteesCouncilInternational PeaceSecurity CouncilPeace And SecuritySecurity Systems Author:Kofi Annan
“The [UN Security Council] P5 ought to be dissuaded from using their veto power, which can paralyze the United Nations. The country blocking action ought to have to explain its decision and propose an alternative solution. It has been suggested that a veto only becomes effective if the vetoing state has the support of two or three other permanent members.” IfsHas BeensTwoCountryStatesActionThreeNationsDecisionUnitedSupportSecurityOughtMembersSolutionsBlockAlternativesPermanentUnited NationsCouncilProposeVetoSecurity Council Author:Kofi Annan