The United Nations Security Council and War:The Evolution of Thought and Practice since 1945 (113 page)

These tables include all vetoes cast against full draft resolutions and parts of draft resolutions in the Security Council from 1946 (when the Security Council held its first meeting, in London) to the end of 2006. The first compares the number of resolutions vetoed with the number of resolutions passed each year. The second comprises the number of vetoes, as well as the number of resolutions vetoed – the former being higher, as some resolutions have been vetoed by more than one Permanent Member of the Security Council. The third table provides a detailed breakdown of all resolutions vetoed and all vetoes cast.

The information here excludes vetoes against parts of resolutions and amendments to resolutions which were subsequently vetoed as a whole. It also excludes draft resolutions that failed to get sufficient votes to be passed (7 votes out of 11 before the end of 1965, and 9 votes out of 15 since then). For example, the draft resolution tabled by Russia on 26 March 1999, calling for an immediate cessation of the use of force against Yugoslavia (UN doc. S/1999/328), failed to obtain the necessary number of votes, and does not count as a veto by France, the UK, and the US. Vetoes made in closed sessions, in particular on the appointment of a new Secretary General, have usually not been made public, and are therefore not included in the table.

Table 1.
Resolutions passed and vetoed

Table 2
Number of vetoes (and vetoed resolutions)

Table 3
Resolutions vetoed and vetoes cast