Assignment

Objective
The following summary examines the amendments to the Charter of the United Nations and offers evidence supporting the reasons these amendments were drawn up and accepted, as well as some critical analysis of the impact these amendments have had on the international system.

Introduction & Background
The Charter of the United Nations has been an instrument of peace and security since 1945, when representatives of 50 countries met in San Francisco to draw it up; since then, there has been much deliberation with regard to whether the Charter can deal, appropriately and efficiently, with a changing global environment. The amendments to Charter Articles 23, 27, 61, and 109 are a direct result of this deliberation.

The amendments to articles 23, 27, and 61 were adopted in 1963 and came in to force in August of 1965, while the amendment to Article 109 was adopted in 1971 and came into force June of 1968. Article 61 was amended a second time in 1971; this change took effect during September 1973.

The amendment to Article 23 enlarges the membership of the Security Council from eleven to fifteen. The amended Article 27 provides that decisions of the Security Council on procedural matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine members (formerly seven) and on all other matters by an affirmative vote of nine members (formerly seven), including the concurring votes of the five permanent members of the Security Council.

The amendment to Article 61� enlarged the membership of the Economic and Social Council from eighteen to twenty-seven. The subsequent amendment� further increased the membership of the Council from twenty-seven to fifty-four.

The amendment to Article 109, which relates to the first paragraph of that Article, provides that a General Conference of Member States for the purpose of reviewing the Charter may be held at a date and place to be fixed by a two-thirds vote of the members of the General Assembly and by a vote of any nine members (formerly seven) of the Security Council. (http://www.un.org/aboutun/charter/index.html, 16 September 2001, 8:00pm)

Analysis
There are myriad reasons these amendments were introduced and adopted by the General Assembly. As such, it is useful to examine the historical and organizational pressures that gave rise to these changes. In general, keep in mind, the goal of these amendments were to increase the level of influence and participation of previously colonized nations.

These amendments are due, in large part, to the increased number of independent nation states and members as a result of decolonization. The demand of these nations, a forming �Third World�, to have a stronger voice and more defined identity in the influence and formation of international economic and social policy gave way to the amendments to Articles 23, 27, and 61.

Although the �Third World� nations succeeded in increasing their �power in numbers�, the challenge created by the veto power of the permanent five members of the Security Council (P-5) continues to dominate policy formation and stifle member nations� influence. In a press release dated 20 December 1999, the GA continues to assert the fact that �in new millennium, the Assembly could not be expected to bestow special privileges on some, while denying them to the vast majority of nations�. There are two parts to this enigma, representation and equity, while the GA successfully addressed this issue during the 1960s & 70s, it did not do enough. The fact that in 1999 the GA also reported that �the high-level working group on the question of the equitable representation on an increase in the membership of the Security Council had achieved very little� is disappointing. The issues of unequal status and under-representation in the Councils of the UN will remain an issue for as long as new independent nations are formed, membership increases, and the Security council remains imbalanced.

Concluding Remarks
These issues are important ones. If the attraction to the UN rests on the fact that all nations can come together and discuss, as equals, the ways in which they can cooperate towards peace, then giving preferential status to some compromises that attraction. Why would nations agree to join an organization in which they will be asked to surrender some of their sovereign rights, and be assured their voice will not be worth as much as another�s?

The aforementioned amendments impacted the international system in that it had increased the opportunity for participation and influence for many nations during the 1960s and 70s, but more than this, it has set a precedent for current and future discussions of representation and equity. In the same way that a change in the international system (de-colonized nations/ independent states) prompted world leaders to propose and adopt amendments, current changes in the global landscape will also define the need for further amendments (i.e. permanent status), with both perseverance and skill, these changes will also be achieved.