The United States on Thursday said she would make "serious and deliberate efforts" to enhance the ability of the UN Security Council to meet challenges facing the international community.
"The United States believes that the long-term legitimacy and viability of the UN Security Council depends on its reflecting the world of the 21st century," said Gordon Duguid, Deputy Spokesman for the US State Department.
"We will make serious and deliberate efforts in consulting with key allies and capitals to find a way forward on reform that enhances the ability of the Security Council to carry out its mandate effectively, and to meet the challenges of the new century," said Duguid.
"The United States is not linking, however, Security Council reform with other aspects of UN reform ... We are going to take into account the ability of all countries to contribute to global security," said Duguid while asked about the Obama administration' s stand on Japan's bid for the permanent member status in the Security Council.
Since the late 1990s there have been many calls for reform of the United Nations, in order to make the world's biggest institution more democratic and more efficient, and able to play a greater role in global affairs.
As the core of the UN reform, the reform of the Security Council includes some sensitive proposals, such as eliminating the veto power held by the five permanent members, and expansion of the permanent membership.
The United States "is open to UN Security Council reform and expansion, as one element of an overall agenda for UN reform," said the previous Bush administration in a statement issued in June 2005, when the reform issue was discussed drastically in the international community.
"We advocate a criteria-based approach under which potential members must be supremely well qualified, based on factors such as: economic size, population, military capacity, commitment to democracy and human rights, financial contributions to the UN, contributions to UN peacekeeping, and record on counterterrorism and non-proliferation," said the statement.
"We have to look, of course, at the overall geographic balance of the Council, but effectiveness remains the benchmark for any reform," added the statement.