Coffee Club Information
Uniting for Consensus (UfC) is a movement (nicknamed the Coffee Club) that developed in the 1990s in opposition to the possible expansion of the United Nations Security Council. Recently revived by Italy, it now has about 40 members[citation needed] aiming to counter the G4 nations' bids for permanent seats. The leaders are Italy, Pakistan, Mexico, Argentina and South Korea.[2]
The countries that have made the strongest demands for permanent seats are Brazil, Germany, India and Japan. Japan and Germany are the UN's second and third largest funders, respectively, while Brazil and India are two of the largest contributors of troops to UN-mandated peace-keeping missions. Brazil is also the largest Latin American nation, and India is the world's largest democracy, a trillion-dollar economy, a nuclear power and the second most populous country.
A UN General Assembly in September 2005 marked the 60th anniversary of the UN and the members were to decide on a number of necessary reforms—including the enlarged SC. However the unwillingness to find a negotiable position stopped even the most urgent reforms meant the September 2005 General Assembly was a setback for the UN. UN announced in 2005 that it received a proposal[3] opposing expansion of permanent seats by the representatives of four Uniting for Consensus members - Canada, Italy, Colombia and Pakistan. The other members and co-sponsors[4] of the text, entitled “Reform of the Security Council”, were listed as Argentina, Costa Rica, Malta, Mexico, Republic of Korea, San Marino, Spain and Turkey.
The G4 retain their goal of permanent UNSC membership for all four nations (plus two African nations). However, Japan announced in January 2006 that it would not support a retabling of the G4 resolution and was working on a resolution of its own.
Some of the members of the Uniting For Consensus group are:
- Argentina, Colombia, Mexico - opposed to a bid for Brazil
- Italy, Netherlands[citation needed], Spain - opposed to a bid for Germany (wishing for a seat for the whole European Union)
- South Korea[citation needed] - opposed to a bid for Japan
- Pakistan - opposed to a bid for India
- Canada - opposed in principle to expansion not achieved by consensus or near-consensus
References
- ^ http://www.centerforunreform.org/node/386
- ^ "Players and Proposals in the Security Council Debate", Global Policy Forum, 3 July 2005. Retrieved 14 May 2006.
- ^ http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2005/ga10371.doc.htm
- ^ http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2005/ga10371.doc.htm
External links
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Categories: United Nations reform | Foreign relations of Mexico | Foreign relations of Italy | Foreign relations of Pakistan | Foreign relations of South Korea | Foreign relations of Spain | Foreign relations of Argentina | Foreign relations of Turkey | Foreign relations of Canada | Foreign relations of Malta |
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