What is meant by 'Veto Power' ? Name any four countries that enjoy veto power.

Question

Q. What is meant by 'Veto Power' ? Name any four countries that enjoy veto power.

CBSECBSE Class XII Board 2023Subjective· 4mImportance★★★★★

🔒 Locked · start free trial →

You're viewing a preview — the full solution, concept, methods & PYQ mapping are locked.

Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →

Concept understanding — United Nations Veto Power

Understanding the Veto Power in the United Nations

Imagine a club where five senior members get a special privilege: even if everyone else in the club votes "yes" on a decision, any one of these five can single-handedly stop it. That is the veto power in the United Nations Security Council.

The Intuition: Why Have a Veto?

The UN was created in 1945, right after World War II. The five most powerful countries that won the war — the United States, the United Kingdom, France, the Soviet Union (now Russia), and China — insisted on one condition before joining: they would not be outvoted on matters of international peace and security. They argued that if the UN tried to take military action against one of them, or force them into a decision they considered a threat to their own survival, the whole organisation would collapse. The veto was their safety net.

Think of it as a "break glass in case of emergency" button for the big powers. It ensures that the UN cannot be used to force a major power into a corner. The price of this safety net is that the Security Council can be paralysed when one of these five disagrees with the rest of the world.

The Precise Statement

The veto power is formally called the right of the permanent members to cast a negative vote on a substantive (non-procedural) matter.

Here is how it works in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) :

The Security Council has 15 members: 5 permanent members (P5) and 10 non-permanent members elected for two-year terms.
For a decision to pass on a substantive matter (like imposing sanctions, authorising military force, or admitting a new UN member), it needs 9 votes in favour.
But — and this is the critical part — among those 9 votes, all 5 permanent members must vote "yes" or at least abstain. If any one of the P5 votes "no", the resolution fails. That single "no" is the veto.

Important

An abstention (not voting yes or no) by a permanent member does not block a resolution. Only an explicit "no" vote is a veto. This is a common exam mistake.

What the Veto Does NOT Cover

The veto only applies to substantive (non-procedural) matters. On procedural matters (like setting the agenda or deciding the time of the next meeting), a simple majority of 9 votes is enough, and no permanent member can veto it. The tricky part is that deciding whether a matter is procedural or substantive is itself a substantive question — and therefore subject to the veto. This is called the "double veto" , though it is rarely used today.

The Five Permanent Members (P5)

Country	Why They Got It
United States	Major Allied power in WWII
United Kingdom	Major Allied power in WWII
France	Major Allied power in WWII
Russia (formerly USSR)	Major Allied power in WWII

Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →

Veto power is the authority to unilaterally block or reject a decision, even if all other members support it; in the UN Security Council, five permanent members—the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, and France—hold this power.

The term "veto" comes from Latin, meaning "I forbid." In the context of international relations, veto power refers to the constitutional right of a state to reject a decision or resolution proposed by an international body, regardless of how many other members vote in favor. It is an absolute negative vote—one that cannot be overridden by any majority, no matter how large.

This power is most famously associated with the United Nations Security Council, the body responsible for maintaining international peace and security. When the UN was established in 1945 after the devastation of World War II, the architects of the organization faced a fundamental dilemma: how to create a body that could act decisively to prevent future conflicts while ensuring that the most powerful nations would actually participate and remain committed to the system. The solution was to grant special privileges to the major Allied powers that had won the war.

The Security Council was designed with fifteen members total—ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms, and five permanent members with a unique privilege. These five permanent members each possess veto power over substantive resolutions. In practice, this means that any one of them can single-handedly prevent the Security Council from taking action, even if the other fourteen members unanimously support a measure. The veto applies to matters of substance—such as authorizing military intervention, imposing sanctions, or admitting new UN members—but not to procedural votes.

Important

A single "no" vote from any permanent member kills a resolution entirely. Abstention, however, does not count as a veto; a permanent member must actively vote against a measure to block it.

The five countries that enjoy veto power are:

United States of America – representing the Western bloc and the world's largest economy at the UN's founding
Russia (originally the Soviet Union until 1991) – the successor state to one of the two superpowers of the Cold War era
China (represented by the People's Republic of China since 1971, replacing the Republic of China/Taiwan) – the world's most populous nation and a rising global power
United Kingdom – a leading colonial and military power at the war's end, with global interests
France – restored as a major European power and given permanent status partly due to its historical significance and Charles de Gaulle's insistence …

Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →

Same / Similar Concept — real previous-year questions on the same or a closely similar concept, not this exact question.

CBSE 2026Set 59/2/11 markMCQ
$Q. Which statement is the best description of 'Veto Power' ? (A) It is a power of positive voting. (B) After the end of the Second World War, Veto Power is given only to permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to establish peace in the world. (C) All the temporary members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) have the right to use Veto Power only for two years. (D) All the members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) possess Veto Power.$
›Reveal solutionSolution

Veto Power is the exclusive right of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to block any substantive resolution, even if all other members vote in favour.

The United Nations was created in 1945, in the aftermath of the Second World War, with the primary mission of maintaining international peace and security. The Security Council was designed as the organ with primary responsibility for this task. But the founders — especially the five major Allied powers — were deeply aware that the League of Nations had failed partly because it lacked the muscle to enforce its decisions. They wanted a body that could act decisively, but they also wanted to ensure that no major power could be forced into a military or political commitment against its will. The result was the veto.

Let’s look at the four options one by one.

Option (A) says veto power is “a power of positive voting.” That is misleading. The veto is not about voting for something; it is about blocking a decision. A permanent member can cast a negative vote — a veto — to prevent a resolution from passing, even if the other fourteen members all vote yes. It is a negative, not a positive, power.

Option (C) claims that “all the temporary members of the UNSC have the right to use Veto Power only for two years.” This is incorrect on two counts. First, temporary (non-permanent) members are elected for two-year terms, but they do not possess veto power at all. Second, the veto is not limited by time — it belongs permanently to the five permanent members. So this option confuses the tenure of non-permanent members with the veto privilege.

Option (D) states that “all the members of the UNSC possess Veto Power.” That is false. Only the five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States — have the veto. The ten non-permanent members can vote yes or no on a resolution, but their negative vote does not count as a veto; it is simply a dissenting vote that can be overridden if the required majority is met. …
Start your 14-day free trial to see the full solution →
CBSE 2025Set 59/4/11 markMCQ
$Q. Which one of the following is not an organ of the United Nations Organization ? (A) Security Council (B) General Assembly (C) Secretariat (D) UNESCO$
›Reveal solutionSolution

UNESCO is a specialized agency that works with the United Nations but is not one of the six principal organs established by the UN Charter.

When the United Nations was founded in 1945, its Charter laid out a specific institutional architecture. The framers designed six principal organs to carry out the organization's core functions: maintaining international peace and security, fostering cooperation among nations, and serving as a forum for dialogue. These six organs form the constitutional backbone of the UN system.

The Security Council stands as the organ with primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. It has fifteen members, including five permanent members with veto power, and can authorize military action, impose sanctions, and deploy peacekeeping forces. The General Assembly serves as the main deliberative body where all member states have equal representation and vote on resolutions, budgets, and the admission of new members. The Secretariat, headed by the Secretary-General, functions as the UN's administrative arm, implementing decisions and running day-to-day operations.

The other three principal organs complete the structure: the International Court of Justice (the UN's judicial body), the Economic and Social Council (coordinating economic and social work), and the Trusteeship Council (which suspended operations in 1994 after all trust territories gained independence). …
Start your 14-day free trial to see the full solution →
CBSE 2025Set 59/6/11 markMCQ
$Q. Given below are two statements : Statement I : United Nations was established in 1945. Statement II : United Nations was founded as a successor to the League of Nations. In the light of above statements, choose the correct answer from the options given below : (A) Both Statement I and Statement II are true. (B) Both Statement I and Statement II are false. (C) Statement I is true, but Statement II is false. (D) Statement I is false, but Statement II is true.$
›Reveal solutionSolution

Both statements are historically accurate: the United Nations was indeed established in 1945 and was explicitly founded to succeed the League of Nations after its failure to prevent the Second World War.

The birth of the United Nations in 1945 marks one of the defining moments in twentieth-century international relations. The organization came into formal existence on 24 October 1945, when its Charter was ratified by the five permanent members of the Security Council and a majority of the other signatories. This followed the San Francisco Conference earlier that year, where representatives from fifty nations gathered to draft the founding document. The timing was no accident: the world was emerging from the devastation of the Second World War, and there was urgent consensus that a new framework for collective security was essential.

Statement I is therefore correct. The year 1945 is the established founding date, and it represents the moment when the international community formally committed to a new experiment in global governance.

Statement II addresses the deeper historical context. The United Nations was not conceived in a vacuum; it was explicitly designed as a successor to the League of Nations, which had been established after the First World War in 1920. The League represented humanity's first serious attempt at creating a permanent international body to maintain peace, but it suffered from critical weaknesses. The United States never joined, major powers withdrew during the 1930s, and the League proved powerless to stop aggression by Japan, Italy, and Germany. By the time war broke out again in 1939, the League had effectively failed. …
Start your 14-day free trial to see the full solution →

Q.What is meant by 'Veto Power' ? Name any four countries that enjoy veto power.

🎓Unlock everything free for 14 days

Unlock everything free for 14 days