This week, the United States said it would support adding two permanent seats for African states and one rotating seat for developing island nations to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). 

The council works to maintain international peace and security, but has repeatedly been criticised for not representing the global population in its membership. 

Crises like Russia's invasion of Ukraine or the Israel-Gaza war have tested the framework of the body, which hasn't been reformed in nearly 60 years. 

But what is it exactly, and what does it do? 

What is the UN Security Council? 

Set up following the end of World War II in 1946, the UNSC is one of the six core bodies of the United Nations (others include the UN General Assembly and the International Court of Justice). 

The idea was for it to be an international council where states could mediate on pressing issues like war and disputes between states.

The council is headquartered in the UN building in New York, and has 15 members: five permanent and the rest temporary.

The Allied powers at the end of World War II became the five permanent members of the council: the US, UK, China, France and Russia.

These nations hold veto power over UNSC resolutions, meaning they can unilaterally reject any motions they don't agree with from being passed.

Another 10 rotating members (initially six, but expanded to 10 in 1965) are elected for two-year terms, voted by geographical grouping.

The current non-permanent members of the UNSC are Algeria, Ecuador, Guyana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, South Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia and Switzerland.

Australia last held a seat on the UNSC between 2013-14, which was the fifth time since the council began. 

What does the UNSC do? 

The primary responsibility of the UNSC, according to the United Nations, is "maintaining international peace and security".

In practice, this means convening representatives on a regular and sometimes emergency basis to vote on resolutions concerning global politics and conflict.

A recent resolution passed unanimously (meaning all members voted in favour) was to extend sanctions against Sudan while a civil war and humanitarian crisis in Darfur is ongoing.

The council has been criticised for not acting quickly enough on information provided to it that the Rwandan genocide was happening in 1994, as well as failing to engineer a ceasefire in Gaza after Israel invaded the territory last year.

It is also regularly paralysed by the veto power of the five permanent states, which was evident when Russia vetoed a February 2022 resolution condemning its own invasion of Ukraine. 

The council can also authorise deployment of UN peacekeeping troops and order sanctions on a country deemed to have violated the UN Charter.

Which regions are missing? 

The US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield announced on Thursday, local time, her country would support adding two permanent members from the African continent to the council, alongside a rotating member from a developing island nation.

"For years, countries have been calling for a more inclusive and a more representative council, one that reflects the demographics of today's world and better respond to the challenges that we face today," Ms Thomas-Greenfield told the Council on Foreign Relations.

Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Oceania and most of Asia are not represented in any permanent membership despite the majority of the world's population living outside of the US, UK, France, China and Russia.

Washington also supports India, Japan and Germany to get permanent seats on the council.

It would be up to African states to decide which country would fill the two permanent council seats, the US ambassador said.

The UN's secretary-general Antonio Guterres strongly supported the move to include African representation on the council, saying that nearly half of all conflicts that come before the UNSC concern Africa and "they are often exacerbated by greed for Africa's resources".

Any changes to the Security Council membership is done by amending the founding UN Charter through a two-thirds vote of the General Assembly and all five veto powers in favour.

What issues could this cause?

Crucially, the US does not support offering veto power to any new member states, saying that it would make the council more dysfunctional.

This means that though the two African states could bring a perspective often missing from the world's fastest growing continent in terms of population, they would not have the brute force to negate any resolutions in the way that permanent members can (and often do), despite being a constant presence on the council.

"However, if UN member states wish to retain the veto, it must extend it to all new permanent members as a matter of justice," he said, while noting the African continent is home to 54 nations and about 1.3 billion people.

The same veto problem would apply to any developing island state elected as a temporary member, where climate change would likely be a foremost issue. 

The Council on Foreign Relations states that many countries have chosen to focus on other international groupings such as NATO, the G20 block or the African Union instead of the UNSC.

Mr Guterres supported refashioning the council to better reflect the modern world.

"You have a Security Council that corresponds exactly to the situation after the Second World War … That has a problem of legitimacy, and that has a problem of effectiveness, and it needs to be reformed," he said on Wednesday.

ABC/Reuters