INSTRUCTIONS AND GUIDANCE FOR THE APRIL 10

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 STATE 036722

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/06/2018
TAGS: UNSC UNGA PREL GM JA IT BR IN PK
SUBJECT: INSTRUCTIONS AND GUIDANCE FOR THE APRIL 10
MEETING OF THE OEWG/DISCUSSIONS WITH PGA KERIM

REF: USUN 310

Classified By: IO PDAS James Warlick for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).

1.(U) This message contains guidance requested by USUN
in reftel for responding to General Assembly President
(PGA) Kerim regarding the April 10 meeting of the
Open-Ended Working Group on the Question of Equitable
Representation and the Increase in Membership of the
Security Council and Other Matters related to the Security
Council (OEWG). Paragraph 3 contains points from which
USUN may draw in making our statement during the April 10 OEWG
session. USUN should underline existing U.S. policy in
both the OEWG and in private conversation with Kerim: the U.S.
supports modest Council expansion that enhances its
effectiveness, and that is part of a package of overall UN
reform.

RESPONSE TO PGA KERIM
--------------


2. (C) USUN should communicate to PGA Kerim that in light
of the wide-ranging and often conflicting views reflected
in the draft proposal put forward by Cyprus on behalf of
the "Over-Arching Group," by United For Consensus (UFC)
and by the African Union (AU),it would not be
appropriate to take a position on any specific proposal,
and that explicit U.S. endorsement of one or another
approach at this juncture would likely lead to
recriminations and inhibit a full discussion. USUN should also
reaffirm points already made by Ambassador Khalilzad to Kerim as
reported in reftel:

-- The U.S. supports modest UNSC expansion if the new
members would add to the effectiveness of the Council.
However, seven new members, the smallest expansion
proposed in the Cyprus draft, is a 50% increase in the size of
the Council. We sincerely doubt that anyone could argue
seriously that such an increase is in the interest of enhancing
the effectiveness of the Council. Rather, it seems to be a
case of sacrificing the efficiency of the Council to gain
wide support for a reform framework.

-- We remain frustrated with the slow progress of UN
reform in other areas, particularly regarding the budget,
personnel, and administrative matters. Without progress
in these areas, it is doubtful that any U.S. administration
would be able to support UNSC reform.

-- While we will consider all possibilities including an
intermediate or interim solution to UNSC reform, we are
concerned that all of the so-called interim solutions we have
seen thus far would fuel regional constituency dynamics whereby
a UNSC renewable member is beholden to its regional partners for
re-election. This would skew the global responsibilities
that a state should assume when becoming a member of the
Council.

--An intermediate solution cannot lead to
automatic permanent membership for new members.

OEWG STATEMENT
--------------


3. (U) Begin Points for Statement during OEWG Discussion:

Mr. President:

Thank you for convening this meeting and for your
commitment to ensuring that the OEWG approaches UNSC
reform in a serious, transparent, and constructive
manner. I would like to underscore U.S. support for your
and the Task Force's leadership on UNSC reform and welcome
the addition of the Permanent Representative of Djibouti
to the Task Force. We also commend your approach in
encouraging the OEWG members to generate ideas and
proposals for the Task Force to consider.

As a result of your guidance, a number of countries have

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worked to further identify and refine elements of UNSC
reform and expansion for the OEWG to consider. We
appreciate the leadership Germany has shown in convening
the "Over-Arching Group" and the efforts of Cyprus and
other countries in working within this framework. As a result
of these efforts, the OEWG has a range of options to
consider in moving this discussion forward. Bearing in
mind these broad options that the Task Force and the
members now have before them, I would like to reiterate
the principles that my government has consistently
advocated with regard to UNSC reform, most recently at
this group's last session in December.

Mr. President, as reflected in your own "seven pillars,"
regarding UNSC reform, we continue to believe that the
OEWG remains the appropriate forum to address the issue of
UNSC expansion, and that the Task Force will be effective
body in assisting the members to move toward a proposal
that can gain consensus support. We remain convinced that
any proposal must have consensus support from all of the
members to avoid alienating any portion of the membership
and undermining the effectiveness of the proposed reform.

The United States wishes to reaffirm its support for UN
reform that includes Security Council reform, we
underscore our belief that the aim of this Group should be
to implement reform that allows the UN Security Council to
better address new threats to global security resulting
from changing circumstances around the world. We are
convinced that for the Council to maintain its
effectiveness any expansion of new seats must be modest in
size, and the new members must be supremely qualified to
carry out global responsibilities. As President Bush
stated to the General Assembly in September, we believe Japan is
qualified to become a permanent member of the Council, and we
are willing to consider other new permanent members.

Mr. President, as also reflected in the first of your
seven pillars, we firmly believe that the members must
implement Security Council reform within a broader reform
that increases the effectiveness and efficiency of the
entire UN system. There are bodies in more dire need of
reform than the UNSC, and we urge concentrated progress on
those priorities.

We again thank you, Mr. President, for your leadership and
dedication to this issue, and we look forward to
continuing the discussion with the OEWG members in the
hope that we can arrive at a reform proposal that enables
the Security Council to meet most effectively its
obligations to promote and preserve peace and stability.

End points.
RICE