As the intergovernmental negotiating team is exploring options for UN Security Council reform in New York, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US Permanent Representative to the UN, spoke at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo on April 18. In response to a question from Professor Sukehiro Hasegawa, she stated that the US is interested in and actively exploring the possibility of expanding the membership of the UN Security Council, including the permanent membership of Japan, Germany, and India, along with major African and Latin American countries. However, it remains to be seen whether this proposal will be adopted by a two-thirds majority of the General Assembly members and ratified in accordance with the constitutional procedures of two-thirds of the member states of the United Nations, including all five current members of the Security Council. The Japanese government is called upon to exercise strong visionary leadership.Click to find out more. (4/5/2024)