Saudi Rejection of UN Security Council Seat Met with Mixed Reactions

The UN Security Council (UNSC) is the UN's chief policy-making body; there are five permanent members in addition to 10 non-permanent members that are elected every two years by the UN General Assembly. One of those two-year rotating memberships on the Security Council could have gone to Saudi Arabia this year.
 
The General Assembly elected Saudi Arabia to take a seat because Saudi Arabian membership would bring a new tone and perspective to the debate regarding several significant problems and issues of international affairs. However, the Saudi Arabian government declined the Security Council seat on Friday. The reason for the decision was the UNSC's failure to end the war in Syria and ineffective action on other Middle Eastern matters.
 
The Foreign Ministry of Saudi Arabia explained the decision with these comments: “The work mechanisms and double standard of the Security Council prevent it from carrying out its duties and assuming its responsibilities in keeping world peace. Therefore, Saudi Arabia has no other option but to turn down Security Council membership until it is reformed and given the means to accomplish its duties and assume its responsibilities in preserving world peace and security.”
 
Mostly, the Saudi government criticizes the UNSC related to the Syrian conflict. According to Saudi officials, the UNSC cannot take responsibility and cannot make effective moves to end the brutal acts of the Syrian governments against its own citizens. The five permanent members on the UNSC have veto power and because of Chinese and Russian vetoes on the Syrian issue, the council has not been able to impose any sanctions against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Russian and Chinese vetoes have allowed the Syrian war to continue and this has drawn Saudi anger at the UNSC, which naturally led to a negative Saudi opinion about UNSC membership.
 
In addition to the Syrian case, Saudi Arabia has many complaints about UNSC action on other Middle Eastern issues. For example, the Saudi government is not pleased because the UNSC has also failed to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. In addition, the council could not take productive steps to stop nuclear proliferation in the region.
 
The Saudi Arabian decision to reject the UNSC seat brought different responses. In a statement, the Arab group at the UN said, “We hope that they [Saudi Arabia], who are amongst the blessed who represent the Arab and Islamic world at this important and historic stage, specifically for the Middle East region … will maintain their membership on the Security Council,” and added, “… continue their brave role in defending our issues, specifically at the rostrum of the Security Council.” When looking at these statements from the Arab group, it is apparent that they are pleased by the prospect of Saudi Arabian membership on the UNSC and they see Saudi Arabia as a good and useful representative of the Arab world in the effort to find solutions to regional problems.
 
In Saudi Arabia, some political elites are also happy about Saudi membership on the council. Jamal Khashoggi is one example. Khashoggi is a journalist and has a connection to the royal family. He celebrated the announcement of the Saudi membership to the council on his Twitter account. His tweet was forwarded by many well-known Saudis and all congratulated the government on this success. Osama Nugali, spokesman for the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was one of those who retweeted Khashoggi's congratulatory comment.
 
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia's allies the Gulf Arab states and Egypt supported the kingdom's decision to decline the UNSC seat. Egypt and the Gulf Arab nations share the kingdom's opinion about the UNSC failure on the issue of the Syrian war and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "Kuwait shares Riyadh's pain," Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Khaled al-Jarallah said, citing the “bloody massacres” in Syria and the “suffering of the Palestinian people.” He said the Saudi rejection of a UNSC seat sent a message to the world.
 
Russia was very surprised at the Saudi response to the council and it criticized the Saudi government decision. Russia found Saudi criticism of the UNSC on the issue of the Syrian conflict especially strange. Other Western countries, however, understand the Saudi reaction; France said that many countries share Saudi Arabia's frustration.
 
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the Saudi government should not make such an immediate decision and should not send official notification of the refusal before the new term begins on Jan. 1.
 
Saudi Arabia is the first country to reject UNSC membership. The kingdom has received both support and criticism for its decision, but the Saudi government did so in order to show its disappointment with the UNSC's failure to resolve the Syrian crisis and other Middle Eastern issues. Thanks to this decision, the kingdom made its anger apparent to the UNSC member states and the rest of the world. If the Saudi government wants to maintain its determined stance on these issues, it will decline the seat again before Jan. 1, but at the same time, some Arab and Western countries are trying to convince Saudi Arabia to accept the membership.
 
Saudi Arabia seems resolved on this subject and it is possible that the Saudi government will not change its decision on UNSC membership. Nevertheless, those Arab countries and the United States, in particular, that want to see Saudi Arabia on the council may try to force the kingdom to accept the seat. Maybe this pressure will affect the Saudi government's response to the council.