The permanent membership of the UN Security Council--comprising China, France, Russian Federation, the UK, and the United States--has remained unchanged since 1945, triggering debate over whether it should be reformed to better reflect the world today. Stewart M. Patrick, senior fellow and director of the International Institutions and Global Governance Program at the Council on Foreign Relations, outlines the debate and offers analysis of the promises and obstacles on the path to UNSC reform and expansion. Patrick says U.S. officials are "really ambivalent" on the question of Security Council enlargement despite President Obama's endorsement for India's and Japan's bids for permanent seats. This is in part because the United States is concerned whether the new members will adopt policies broadly consistent with U.S. worldview, he adds.

This video is part of The Internationalist, a series dedicated to in-depth discussions about leveraging multilateral cooperation to meet today's transnational challenges. For more visit The Internationalist blog: http://blogs.cfr.org/patrick/

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