SECURITY COUNCIL

United Nations organ whose primary responsibility is the maintenance of international peace and security. The Security Council consisted originally of 11 membersfive permanent members (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States) and six nonpermanent members elected by the UN General Assembly for two-year terms. In 1965, when an amendment to the Charter was ratified, the council became a 15-member body consisting of the original five permanent members and 10 nonpermanent members, the latter chosen to reflect an equitable geographic distribution. Of these 10, five are elected each year by the General Assembly for two-year terms; five retire each year. The presidency is held by each member in turn for one month. Each member has one vote. On all procedural matters (the definitions of which are sometimes in dispute), decisions by the council are made by an affirmative vote of any nine (seven until 1965) of its members. On substantive matters, including the investigation of a dispute and the application of sanctions, nine (seven until 1965) affirmative votes are requiredincluding those of the five permanent members holding veto powerbut in practice a permanent member may abstain without impairing the validity of the decision. A vote on whether a matter is procedural or substantive is itself a substantive question. Because the Security Council is required to function continuously, each member is represented at all times at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. Any state, even if it is not a member of the United Nations, may bring a dispute to which it is a party to the notice of the Security Council. If the council finds that there is a real threat to the peace, a breach of the peace, or an act of aggression (Article 39) or that there is a failure to perform obligations incumbent . . . under a judgment of the International Court of Justice (Article 94), the council may call upon the members of the United Nations to apply diplomatic or economic sanctions. If these methods prove inadequate, the charter states that the council may take military action against the offending nation by air, sea, and land forces acting for the United Nations.