The impact of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on attitudes towards the United Nations Security Council reform: the case of the permanent five (P5)
Date
2024
Authors
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Publisher
Tartu Ülikool
Abstract
This bachelor thesis aimed to investigate the impact of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on
the perspectives and discourses of the permanent five members (P5) of the United Nations
Security Council (UNSC) towards the UNSC reform. To conduct the study, research
questions were posed to investigate changes that occurred after the invasion began. Firstly,
changes in the levels of assigned urgency to the topic were explored. Secondly, changes in the
perspectives and discourse of the P5 were examined. To reach the conclusions two qualitative
content analyses have been conducted with various speeches made by the P5 countries at the
United Nations General Assembly. The analyses revealed an increase in the level of urgency
shown by France and the U.S. towards the topic, but since this is not the majority of the P5,
the change is insufficient to conclude that there was a change in the view of the P5 as a
whole, showing a limited impact by the outbreak of the war. The analyses also found out that
significant change was observed in discourses and perspectives of the P5, but since the
changes did not help reach a consensus across the P5, once again the limited impact of the
war was observed. Based on the theoretical framework of the work, it was also concluded
that the impact of the war did not help in overcoming the inertia and that the war did not
serve as a possible critical juncture.