Many commentators have noted that the timing and intensity of the recent surge in anti-Japan protests in China may be due in part to Tokyo's push for permanent membership of the U.N. Security Council. At the same time, during a highly successful and very visible visit to India, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao seemed to give only tacit and tepid support for India's parallel bid.
The international law enforcement system is centered on the U.N. Security Council, but it has signally failed to function so. It suffers from a fourfold crisis of legitimacy: performance, procedures, representation and accountability.
The Security Council was not able to stop either Saddam Hussein's brutalities on his own people or the 2003 U.S.-led war on Iraq. It has been unable to guarantee either Israel's security or the Palestinians' human rights and dignity. In far too many cases, it has failed to rise to grave occasions demanding urgent action — from Srebrenica to Rwanda and Darfur. These were and are failures of international civic courage.