United Nations Security Council Permanent Seats and OIC Requests

A UN Security Council reform has been overdue for decades. Throughout its entire history, reform only took place in 1963 with the addition of four non-permanent seats. Calls for an increase in the number of the Security Council’s permanent seats for representatives of developing nations have been loud. The 57 members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the largest Muslim organisation in the world and the second largest inter-governmental organisation outside the UN spreading over four continents, is demanding a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The need was considered vital due to the spate of events such as the Palestine issue, the September 11, 2001 incident, the global war against radical Islamist terrorists, the Arab Awakening, the UN Security Council’s deadlock on the Syrian crisis, Iran and a host of other issues from setting gender policy to human rights, all of which have further amplified a sense of alienation between Muslim communities and the West. This research examines the events that obliged the OIC requests. It identifies the appropriate members for the requested seat and highlights the future benefits of the seat to OIC. The findings of this paper seek to provide a major breakthrough recommendation for the OIC permanent seat on the UNSC.