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The institutional architecture of the international system, however, remains the product of a specific historical era. International institutions the Bretton Woods twins, IMF and World Bank, and the United Nations created in 1944-1945, reflect the realities of that time. The structure and composition of the UN's premier organ, the Security Council, reflect the historical arrangement reached 78 years ago by the victors of World War II. They became the five permanent members of the Council that has 10 non-permanent elected members. Possession of the veto power further buttressed the P5's position and created an inequality that persists to date. Thus the UN body charged with primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security and whose decisions are supposed to be binding remains anchored in the past.
Calls for reform of the 15-member Council have been heard over the decades from countries across the world. Most recently, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres again added his voice to these calls. Speaking at a press conference last week in Japan, on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit, he said it was time to reform both the Security Council and Bretton Woods institutions to align them with the "realities of today's world".
It isn't as if efforts for reform haven't been undertaken. Since 2009 talks have been going on to reform the Security Council in informal sessions of the General Assembly. The GA which created the intergovernmental negotiations process set the goal of comprehensive Council reform involving five equally important and interlinked issues. These are: categories of membership, veto, regional representation, size and working methods of an expanded Council, and the relationship between the Security Council and General Assembly.