The global impact of the P5’s veto power

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the veto power that the P5 members of the UN
Security Council are privy to remains relevant today or whether it has become an obsolete concept.
This research paper intends to include a walk-through of the history and features of the veto power
in the UN Security Council, along with a case study focused on two parallel perspectives. The first
section of the case study focuses on the usage of the veto power by inspecting the official transcripts
of the UN Security Council meetings in which a veto has been casted, and the second section of the
case study surveys the international public’s opinion on the veto power in light of the 2023 situation in
Gaza by analysing all of the most prominent opinion posts on X (formerly Twitter) which have gained
over 500 reposts and which clearly include the words “veto” or “veto power”.