Changing the UN

Following are the proposed UN changes leaked to the Economist:

• Creating a “peace-building commission” to serve as an early warning system for global hotspots and, if necessary, lay the groundwork for military intervention;
  
• Developing a structure for preemptive intervention, but only after five “criteria for legitimacy” are met—the threat must be defined, the purpose of intervention must be clear, intervention should be proportionate to the threat, intervention should improve the situation, and intervention must come as a last resort;
  
• Expecting member states to protect their own citizens; failure to do so, the BBC reports, could trigger intervention by the Security Council;
  
• Maintaining the current veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council (UNSC)—the United States, United Kingdom, Russia, China and France;
  
• Expanding the UNSC from 15 to 24 members, with six members from each of four regions—Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe; and
  
• Examining the prospect of adding new permanent members to the UNSC but not granting them veto power.