Biden, Gaza 'key factors' driving US support for Africa UNSC seats

Washington DC — The United States declaration that it supports adding two new permanent United Nations Security Council seats for African countries and one rotation seat for small island developing states is directly linked to strengthening US president's legacy and Israel's war on Gaza, a UN affairs specialist has told TRT World.

"I think the US announcement was an effort to strengthen Biden's legacy at the UN. We won't see the Council reform during his term in office, but he might just go down in history as the president who made it possible," Richard Gowan, who oversees International Crisis Group's [ICG] advocacy work at the United Nations, told TRT World.

Gowan said the announcement may also be an attempt to take away attention from its back to back vetoes on calls for ceasefire in Israel's war on Gaza.

"The US marginalised the Council over Gaza by using its veto in late 2023 and early 2024. That caused a lot of bad feeling among other UN members," the UN Director at the ICG said.

"The US wants to look like a reformer not a spoiler at the UN."

US opposes veto powers to African nations

On Thursday, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield announced that Washington will support the addition of new permanent seats in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations.

While Africa has three non-permanent seats on the UN Security Council, that doesn't allow African countries "to deliver the full benefit of their knowledge and voices," she said.

"That is why, in addition to non-permanent membership for African countries, the United States supports creating two permanent seats for Africa on the council," Thomas-Greenfield said.

"It’s what our African partners seek, and it's what we believe is just," she said, adding her country opposes giving veto power to the African countries, saying the veto makes the UNSC's work "dysfunctional."

"None of the permanent members want to give up their veto power, including us," she said. "...We think if we expand that veto power across the board, it will make the council more dysfunctional."

The veto power is the UN Charter's most significant distinction between permanent and non-permanent members. Only five countries enjoy the veto power at the UNSC: US, Russia, China, France and UK.

Many UN member states have been for decades calling to reform permanent and temporary members at the UNSC.

Countries like Türkiye, Germany, Brazil, India and Japan say the power distribution at the UN Security Council is skewed and outdated which needs to be reformed.