# Uniting for Consensus

Uniting for Consensus (UfC), nicknamed the Coffee Club, is a movement that developed in the 1990s in opposition to the possible expansion of permanent seats in the United Nations Security Council. Under the leadership of Italy, it aims to counter the bids for permanent seats proposed by G4 nations (Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan) and is calling for a consensus before any decision is reached on the form and size of the United Nations Security Council.

## History

Italy, through the ambassador Francesco Paolo Fulci, along with Pakistan, Mexico and Egypt, founded the "Coffee Club" in 1995 . The four countries were united by a rejection of the proposal to increase the number of permanent members of the Security Council, instead desiring to encourage the expansion of non-permanent seats. The founders of the group were soon joined by other countries, including Spain, Argentina, Turkey, and Canada, and in a short time the group came to include about 50 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The thesis of the Uniting for Consensus group is that the increase of permanent seats would further accentuate the disparity between the member countries and result in the extension of a series of privileges with a cascade effect. The new permanent members would in fact benefit from the method of electing, which is particularly advantageous in a number of specific organs of the United Nations System.
During the 59th session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2005, the UfC group — led by the representatives of Canada, Italy, and Pakistan — made a proposal that centred on an enlargement of the number of non-permanent members from ten to twenty. The non-permanent members would be elected by the General Assembly for a two-year term and would be eligible for immediate re-election, subject to the decision of their respective geographical groups. The other members and co-sponsors of the text, entitled "Reform of the Security Council", were listed as Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Malta, Mexico, San Marino, Spain and Turkey. Although the proposal was not accepted, the initiative found broad consensus among member states, including permanent member China.
On 20 April 2009, Italy, acting as representatives of the UfC group, provided a new model of reform, which was presented as a concrete attempt to reach a deal. The document proposed creating a new category of seats, still non-permanent, but elected for an extended duration (3 to 5 years terms) without the possibility of immediate re-election. This new kind of seat would not be allocated to single national countries but rather to regional groups on a rotational basis. As far as traditional categories of seats are concerned, the UfC proposal does not imply any change, but only the introduction of small and medium size states among groups eligible for regular seats. This proposal includes even the question of veto, giving a range of options that goes from abolition to limitation of the application of the veto only to Chapter VII matters.
During the last round, Italy firmly rejected the G4 proposal as well as the African Union one and even denounced the unfair behaviour of G4 countries. According to Italy, the G4 is attempting to exclude the UfC proposal from the floor, “on the basis of a presumed level of support”. Moreover, Italy believes that it has shown flexibility by putting forward a new proposal in April 2009, while the G4 remained tied to its 2005 document. Italy's active role in current discussions started in February 2009 before the beginning of intergovernmental negotiations, when Minister of Foreign Affairs Franco Frattini hosted more than 75 countries to develop a shared path towards a reform of the Security Council. In May 2011, the members states which have participated in the group meeting held in Rome rose to 120.

## Member States Data

As of 27 March 2023, core members of the Uniting for Consensus group were:
| Country | UN budget | International Trade (Millions of USD) 2023 | GDP (nominal) (Millions of USD) 2023 | GDP (PPP) (Millions of USD) 2023 | Defense budget (Millions of USD) | Active military | Population | G8 | G20 | OECD | DAC | MIKTA |
| Italy | 4.999% | 1,150,100 | 2,198,730 | 1,846,950 | 34,500 | 293,202 | 60,849,247 | Y | Y | Y | Y | N |
| Canada | 3.207% | 1,045,200 | 1,736,869 | 1,396,131 | 34,000 | 68,250 | 34,953,100 | Y | Y | Y | Y | N |
| Spain | 3.177% | 1,025,200 | 1,493,513 | 1,413,468 | 33,984 | 128,013 | 46,163,116 | N | N | Y | Y | N |
| Mexico | 2.356% | 1,031,200 | 1,154,784 | 1,661,640 | 31,859 | 267,506 | 112,336,538 | N | Y | Y | N | Y |
| South Korea | 3.160% | 1,001,000 | 1,116,247 | 1,554,149 | 30,800 | 600,000 | 50,004,441 | N | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Turkey | 0.617% | 1,000,800 | 778,089 | 1,573,565 | 32,687 | 866,576 | 74,724,269 | N | Y | Y | N | Y |
| Argentina | 0.287% | 136,300 | 447,644 | 716,419 | 3,179 | 73,100 | 40,117,096 | N | Y | N | N | N |
| Indonesia | 0.238% | 935,100 | 845,680 | 1,124,649 | 5,220 | 302,000 | 237,641,326 | N | Y | N | N | Y |
| Colombia | 0.144% | 92,760 | 327,626 | 471,890 | 10,290 | 285,220 | 46,748,000 | N | N | N | N | N |
| Pakistan | 0.082% | 58,000 | 210,566 | 488,580 | 5,160 | 617,000 | 180,991,000 | N | N | N | N | N |
| Costa Rica | 0.034% | 24,460 | 40,947 | 55,020 | 6,125 | 155,020 | 4,301,712 | N | N | N | N | N |
| Malta | 0.017% | 9,200 | 8,896 | 10,757 | 58 | 1,954 | 417,617 | N | N | N | N | N |
| San Marino | 0.003% | 6,201 | 2,048 | 1,136 | 10 | 900 | 32,404 | N | N | N | N | N |

## The Coffee Club

*While Spain is not an official member of the G20, it is a permanent invitee.
China and Indonesia are participating as Observers.
According to Italian and South Korean media, The Uniting for Consensus (UfC) or the Coffee Club group is a non-permanent consultative body of countries opposing the expansion of the UN Security Council's permanent membership. It is also known by its nickname "The Coffee Club". The Coffee Club is about over 120 countires supporting for the Uniting for Consensus group in aroud the world which is also 120 countries have participated in May 2011 in Rome Italy. The majority of the Coffee Club members are primarily focused on blocking attempts by the so-called 'G4' (Germany, India, Brazil, and Japan) to gain permanent membership. It was formed in 1995 when Italian Ambassador Francesco Paolo Fulci called together ambassadors from Pakistan, Mexico, and Egypt who opposed the addition of permanent members to the Security Council. The reason it was nicknamed the Coffee Club was because the first thing that came out at that time was Francesco Fulci's "Let's have a cup of coffee first." Spain and Turkey in Europe, Canada and Argentina in America, and South Korea in Asia quickly joined. The story of the formation of the Coffee Club surprisingly contains considerable political implications. If you look at a map, you can see that the countries belonging to the Coffee Club are located all over the world. Most of them are geographically distant and have little contact with each other historically, and they have almost no cultural similarities in race, religion, culture, or language. On the other hand, there are some countries that are closely related, such as Spain, Italy, Argentina, Mexico, and Colombia. The latter three were all colonies of Spain, so they speak Spanish and are still strongly influenced by Spain. Italy also has a very close relationship with many people of Italian descent in Argentina, Mexico, etc. So many South Americans have dual citizenships, like Spain or Italy, and there are quite a few who have triple citizenship like Messi. Turkey also has a history of forming an alliance with Goguryeo, the ancestors of Korea, and fighting against China, and it is one of the countries that helped us during the Korean War, so there is surprisingly a lot of common ground. In other words, the Coffee Club is a group of friendly neighbors or distant, unfamiliar countries, and they came together with the one commonality that there is a country among the G4 nations that opposes the entry of a permanent member of the Security Council.
The fact that the first statement of the meeting was a recommendation for coffee means that there was already an implicit consensus that there was nothing else to talk about. There was no need for discussion on the opinion that the entry of the G4 into the Security Council must be blocked at all costs. In other words, it shows how influential the permanent member position is, paradoxically, to the extent that a coalition of countries was formed just for the purpose of opposing it. As the G4 began lobbying the international community to become a permanent member of the Security Council, the Coffee Club, a loose federation, began to gradually build up its own power. This is how the 'Uniting for Consensus (UfC)' was created. Most of the countries participating in the Coffee Club (UfC) did not originally oppose all of the G4 countries as permanent members. There are only a few countries, including Canada, that actively oppose the G4 as permanent members, and most of the countries that have a loud voice in the Coffee Club participated by opposing specific countries in the G4 rather than opposing the entire G4. Italy and Spain reject Germany, Mexico and Argentina reject Brazil, Pakistan rejects India, and Korea rejects Japan. However, while the G4 countries, except Brazil, are recognized as great powers diplomatically, Brazil exerts great power influence in the region, but its economic strength and other issues make it insufficient to be called a great power. However, depending on the viewpoint, there are opinions that see Brazil as a great power. And the countries opposing the G4 countries were regional powers and middle-sized countries with a large gap in national power between the great powers and the minimum powers, except for Italy, South Korea, and Canada, which were evaluated as the minimum powers in terms of influence or pure national power, so there was a limit to vetoes at the level of individual countries. Since the opposition demands of relatively weak countries are unlikely to be enforced in the international society where the logic of power operates, the negotiating countries joined forces in the form of "We will side with you and oppose that country, so you should also side with us and oppose this country," and as a result, all the negotiating countries came out against the advancement of the G4 countries. For example, our country sided with Pakistan and Turkey to oppose India, and they also joined with Korea to oppose Japan. Even if it is a country adjacent to the country or has no political or historical ties, increasing the number of permanent members is burdensome for any country. For example, Korea's primary goal is to oppose Japan, and Italy's primary goal is to oppose Germany, but that does not mean that Korea will benefit from supporting Germany or Italy from supporting Japan. If Germany becomes a permanent member, the existing five countries of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia and China in the Security Council will be added to Germany's influence, which will make it more difficult for Korea and the international community to process the agenda, and there will be no windfall benefits for Korea from a specific country becoming a permanent member.
Italy, South Korea and other countries are in a similar situation. That is why countries belonging to the Coffee Club oppose increasing the number of permanent members in principle. This is also the reason why the Coffee Club has strong international influence compared to its size. Everyone except the countries that directly benefit from increasing the number of permanent members is opposed to the situation. Despite having little in common, these countries boast an unusually crazy sense of solidarity and cooperation among international organizations, all because of the one common goal of a G4 country that is adamantly opposed to the entry of a permanent member into the Security Council. This is because the structure makes it very easy and effective to punish betrayals. For example, if Pakistan supports Germany, Spain, Italy, and San Marino, which oppose Germany’s entry into the Security Council, will support India, which Pakistan excludes. Betrayal is (theoretically) impossible because it leads directly to the worst outcome. There are a total of 12 countries that are formal and regular participants in the Coalition for Agreement, and there are about 40-50 and later 120 countries that unofficially support the Coffee Club. The major countries listed below, which are recognized as representing the Coffee Club in papers and explanations related to the Coffee Club and are actively involved, regularly host the Coffee Club meeting every year. Korea also dispatches a vice-ministerial-level official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to participate in the activities. South Korea: Along with China, South Korea is one of the biggest victims of Japanese imperialism in the past, and fundamentally opposes Japan's advancement to a permanent member of the Security Council and its rise to a country that influences world affairs. The existing permanent members, China and Russia also oppose Japan's advancement to a permanent member of the Security Council.
China, Russia, North Korea, some of Asian countries, the Netherlands and Sout Korea is also a victim of Japanese militarism, and Japan, as an ally of the United States in the US-China hegemony competition, is keeping China in check. In addition, China and Japan are engaged in a territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands, which are currently under Japan's effective control. Russia fought the Russo-Japanese War with the Japanese Empire in the past, and lost South Sakhalin to Japan as a price for its defeat. After the war, Russia recaptured South Sakhalin and took the entire Kuril Islands, including the four northern islands. There is still a dispute over the Kuril Islands between Russia and Japan today. Given the current situation, Japan is considered to have a very low chance of becoming a permanent member, despite its support from the United States. Pakistan: Since independence, there has been a constant hostility with India, and there have been several armed conflicts. Both countries are nuclear powers, and the reason for developing nuclear weapons is to check the other party. Since China, which has territorial issues over Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh, tacitly agrees, the possibility of India becoming a permanent member of the Security Council is low. Turkey: It also joined to check India. This is similar to Italy's position. Among the countries that consider Turkey a brother country, there is Pakistan. It actively uses Turkey as a role model, and Turkey also considers Pakistan as one of its brother countries. However, Pakistan is the only country on Earth that goes beyond denying the Armenian genocide and denies the country of Armenia itself. On the other hand, Turkey's opposition to India is also aimed at 'promoting the interests of the Islamic world', which has been thoroughly excluded from the UN General Assembly along with Pakistan and Indonesia. Muslims (Sunni + Shia) are the second largest population after Christians (Catholic + Protestant + Orthodox). However, there are four permanent members of the Christian cultural sphere, but not a single Islamic country. Even China, the only non-Christian cultural sphere country, has poor relations with the Islamic world due to the oppression of the Uyghur Autonomous Region and communist hatred of religion.
The Arab League also agrees with Turkey on this issue, but it does not support Turkey. Traditionally, Turkey has not been on good terms with the Arab countries of the Middle East. Iran, which is not an Arab country, is neither Turkic nor Sunni, and does not have good relations with Turkey. Iran is a Shiite + Islamic fundamentalist dictatorship with Persians as the main ethnic group. On the other hand, the other Turkic countries, except for Turkey, believe in Islam as the main religion, but their national power is so weak that their presence is lower than that of the Arab countries or Iran, and except for Azerbaijan, they are far away and have difficulty helping Turkey. Italy, Spain, San Marino: joined to check Germany. Many European countries such as Poland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Netherlands, and Norway oppose Germany because they suffered war damage from Nazi Germany during World War II. Furthermore, these European countries oppose Germany not only because of the World War 2, but also because they argue that if Germany becomes a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Germany's political influence in Europe will increase. However, Italy and Spain ostensibly oppose Germany because three permanent members are concentrated in Europe. This is also due to their antipathy toward Germany, which exerts enormous influence in the European Union. If they simply oppose Germany by defining it as an Axis power during World War II, it would contradict Italy's argument that it was also an Axis power, so they present a slightly different reason, that the permanent members are concentrated in Western Europe. In fact, the reason European countries most oppose Germany's entry into the Security Council is not because of their past history, but because of Germany's strengthening of influence in the region and the resulting imbalance. Korea is no different. In addition, if Germany were to become a permanent member of the Security Council, the geopolitical positions of the two countries next to them (UK, France, Germany) would be significantly weakened as all three powers in Western Europe would become permanent members. For this reason, Italy and Spain argue that the existing five-power system of permanent members should be maintained, or that one of the UK and France should step down from the permanent membership. As an expression of this will, the Coffee Club was formed under the leadership of Italy. Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica: The purpose is to check Brazil. They oppose Brazil's entry into the UN Security Council as a permanent member, citing the logic that "people who don't even speak Spanish are representing South America." Argentina and Colombia, which do not have good relations with Brazil, are actively opposing it, and Mexico seems to agree with them. In Canada's case, it is in principle opposed to the expansion of the permanent membership without agreement among UN member states, but it is possible that it will join Australia to replace China and Russia. However, due to the special nature of the Five Eyes and the US-Canada relationship, which can be considered the closest in the world, it is closely watching the US. Due to historical relations and the UK-Canada and France-Canada relations,
It is also watching the United Kingdom and France. Anti-Japan: Many East Asian and Southeast Asian countries, namely Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines, Thailand, North Korea and the Netherlands. The Netherlands is one of the few European countries that opposes Japan, as the Dutch East Indies were occupied by Japan during the World War II and the Dutch were victims of Japanese war crimes, including comfort women. Against Germany: Many European countries, namely Poland, the Netherlands, Austria, Norway, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Denmark, Hungary, Namibia, Tanzania and some African countries. Not only the European countries invaded by the Nazis, but also some African countries that were colonized by Germany during the German Empire also oppose Germany's election as a permanent member of the Security Council. Against Brazil: Many South American countries, namely Uruguay, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, etc. Uruguay is a brother country of Argentina, which is at odds with Brazil, and the rest of the countries are all Spanish-speaking countries and do not have good historical and diplomatic relations with Brazil. Against India: Nepal. Although not as good as Pakistan, Nepal also has a territorial dispute with India over the Kalapani region in the northwestern Himalayas, so it does not have good relations. Against Australia: Fiji is not part of the G4, but it is opposed to Australia, which has a slight chance of becoming a permanent member under the pretext of representing the Oceania continent. Malta: They are against the very idea of increasing the number of permanent members. In addition, even if they do not specifically check the G4, if there is one more permanent member, there will be more countries that have to be careful and try to please, so there are quite a few countries that agree with the Coffee Club.