China and Russia have used their Veto in the Security Council to block any move to bring relief to the citizens of Syria, and as a result - the Bashar Assad regime is free to massacre opponents at will.
The Veto is really a thing of the past. When the United Nations came into being after the end of the second world war, five " great powers " were only coaxed into becoming members if they were allowed to ignore the wishes of other countries - and so the " Veto " was born.
What gave these five countries the right to impose their wills on the rest of the world ? They were the countries that possessed nuclear weapons. The terrible power of these weapons gave them the status of " super powers " - and so Russia, China, France, Britain and the United States of America became de-factor rulers of world affairs.
Times have changed. That was then - and this is now !
India, Pakistan and North Korea have joined the nuclear club - and several other countries are either close to producing nuclear weapons, or are believed to have them secretly in their arsenal. Yet there are no moves to bestow the power of Veto on any of these countries.
What would really happen if the Veto was removed and the Security Council became a democratic institution, where the vote by every member held equal value ?
The tactic of moving a motion that was sure to bring a Veto from the other side of world politics would disappear. Half the time either side is advancing a prospective course of action that they have no intention of actually carrying out - because they know it will be blocked by veto - but it is good publicity to seem to be responding to world opinion.
This veto does not stop any country taking action in support of a perceived world issue. It merely stops it getting that seal of approval - a United Nations mandate to proceed - and that seems to be essential to stave off criticism.
Unfortunately we seem to be stuck with the Veto - because there seems no chance that any or all of the five great super powers are likely to agree to change, and as long as they hold that power of Veto - it would be impossible to introduce change into the security council without it first getting universal approval from those five members.
Unless - of course - those new nuclear nations also demand entry as permanent members of the security council - with Veto rights. That would be a whole new ball game - and perhaps the only way the Veto may disappear from the equation !
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