Breaches of these resolutions are often the basis for armed intervention by the UN, or by others seeking to enforce the will of the Security Council. But the share-out of power on the Security Council is widely acknowledged to be unfair and unreasonable. After all, only five countries are permanent members, and only they have individual vetoes to block any decision they do not like. The five, broadly the first nuclear powers, are the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France. Other countries have temporary membership of the Security Council on a rotating basis.
Many countries believe the time for change is long overdue.
But it is hard to see radical change being agreed quickly. Agreement requires the present five to accept a dilution of their powers. The United Nations was established by 51 countries in 1945, in response to the horrors of the Second World War, and the political failures which failed to prevent it. When the UN was born, the world's total population was 2.5 billion. The task of finding ways to put an end to that scourge is as vital today as it was in 1945.