Another criticism of the Security Council involves the veto power of the five permanent members . As it stands , a veto from any of the permanent members can halt any possible action the Council may take . One country 's objection , rather than the opinions of a majority of countries , may cripple any possible UN armed or diplomatic response to a crisis . For instance , John J. Mearsheimer claimed that " since 1982 , the US has vetoed 32 Security Council resolutions critical of Israel , more than the total number of vetoes cast by all the other Security Council members . " Since candidates for the Security Council are proposed by regional blocs , the Arab League and its allies are usually included but Israel , which joined the UN in 1949 , has never been elected to the Security Council . The Council has repeatedly condemned Israel . On the other hand , critics contend that , while Israel has the United States to rely on to veto any pertinent legislation against it , the Palestinians lack any such power . Apart from the US , several resolutions have been vetoed by Russia , notably attempts to impose sanctions on Syria during the Syrian Civil War and to condemn Russia 's own annexation of Crimea in 2014 . In the case of the latter , Russia 's lone veto overruled the thirteen other votes in favor of the condemnation . As part of the Soviet Union , Russia also vetoed a UN resolution condemning the USSR 's shooting down of Korean Air Lines Flight 007 in 1983 . The veto has been singled out as a threat to human rights , with Amnesty International claiming that the five permanent members had used their veto to " promote their political self-interest or geopolitical interest above the interest of protecting civilians . " As of 2014 , Amnesty International has suggested that a solution would involve the five permanent members surrendering their veto on issues of genocide . Some see the fact that veto power is exclusive to the permanent five as being anachronistic and unjust , given that the United Nations is meant to equally represent all its member states . Journalist Kourosh Ziabari has stated that the veto is " a discriminatory and biased privilege given to five countries to dictate their own will to some 200 countries as they wish . " and has called it " the most unfair and inequitable law of the world which enables a powerful and authoritative minority to determine the fate of an indispensable and subjugated majority " . Aside from criticism directed towards its biased nature , others have pointed out that the veto makes it difficult for the Security Council to solve issues . Whilst addressing the UN General Assembly on the Russian annexation of Crimea , Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the following regarding the inefficiency of the veto " In every democratic country , if someone has stolen your property , an independent court will restore justice , in order to protect your rights , and punish the offender . However , we must recognize that in the 21st century our organization lacks an effective instrument to bring to justice an aggressor country that has stolen the territory of another sovereign state . ” The practice of the permanent members meeting privately and then presenting their resolutions to the full council as a '' fait accompli '' has also drawn criticism ; according to Erskine Barton Childers , " the vast majority of members – North as well as South – have made very clear ... their distaste for the way three Western powers '' the UK , US , and France '' behave in the Council , like a private club of hereditary elite-members who secretly come to decisions and then emerge to tell the grubby elected members that they may now rubber-stamp those decisions . " In this case , the United Nations has received some criticism in its gender-inclusivity and its reception of feminist viewpoints . While at the large scale the UN provides outlets and aid to women through UN Women and the Sustainable Development Goals , the reality is that the UN is still very male-dominated . While it has achieved gender parity in its employees at the two lowest levels of responsibility ( P-1 and P-2 ) , equal representation has not yet been achieved at any levels higher than these . Senior leadership as of 2015 was made up of 78 % men , and parity is not expected for another 112 years based on current trends . Both the percentage of appointments made and the likelihood and speed at which employees are promoted mirror the trend above ; parity achieved at low levels while at the D-2 level women see roughly a quarter of what their male counterparts do
Korean Air Lines Flight 007
Korean Air Lines Flight 007
Criticism of the United Nations