The UN Security Council: Can Australia make it work better?

The Centre for Institutional and Organisational Studies, in association with the Faculty of Business and Law and the United Nations Association of Australia, Hunter Region, hosted a guest lecture by former New Zealand Ambassador to the UN and Security Council President Colin Keating.

Australia is standing for election to the UN Security Council this year. It was last a member of the Security Council in 1986. Since then the world has changed dramatically. We have seen the end of the Cold war and a whole new peace and security environment. But The Security Council has been slow to adapt to these new realities. There have been significant failures - not least the genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia . The Security Council has also struggled to manage prolonged conflict in Somalia and Darfur and many other places. An important question for Australians, therefore, in the lead up to membership on the Council, is how Australia will respond to these policy challenges. What are the problems and what options may exist over the next two years?