Syria veto is a sign that UNSC reforms overdue

Last December, in an interview with ABC's Barbara Walters, Bashar Al Assad suggested that politics at the United Nations was "a game" and the Security Council was irrelevant. In the end, this irrelevance worked in his favour.

Indeed, it was the inherent bureaucratic faults of the Security Council's current makeup that allowed the blood-stained leader to continue his assault on Syrian citizens. Russia and China, two veto-wielding permanent members of the council, stepped to his defence on Saturday, and once again, the world's most important body for peace and security failed in its very mission.

Unchanged since its inception in 1945, the permanent makeup of the security council today bears no relation to the world order as it stands, but instead is a model of Cold War-era hierarchy. India, Japan, Brazil and Germany, among others, have over the last few years pushed hard for an expanded council, offering their own ideas on how to re-balance power. US President Barack Obama has paid lip-service to expansion. Even Russia has lobbied for reform - as recently as last week - when Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told a group of lawyers in Moscow council membership should expand to "comply with today's realities".

What type of expansion is a hotly debated question. Created from the ashes of the Second World War, five of the leading powers at the time - Russia, the US, the UK, China and France - were given permanent membership because of their ability to enforce the will of the world body. But today, there are more global economic and military powers than those known as the P5.

Despite the clear need for an overhaul, status quo states continue to block reform efforts. At stake is their veto, a privilege members have used to pursue their own interests far too often. This week's vote on Syria is one example, but there may be no nation more guilty of this than the United States, which has used its veto to defend Israel more than three dozen times.

Security Council reform is a perennial political chestnut, and action will be slow in coming. But every time the council's members come up short the case for reform becomes stronger.

Last week, the United Nations Security Council failed, some would say even betrayed, the Syrian people. As long as the Security Council remains a closed shop with antiquated voting practices, it will not be the last time justice loses out to politics.