Background
The UN currently has five permanent members with veto powers in the Security Council: the People's Republic of China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The G4 nations are regularly elected to two-year terms on the Security Council as non-permanent members by their respective regional groups: in the 24-year period from 1987 to 2010, Japan was elected for five terms, Brazil for five terms, Germany for four terms and India for two terms. Cumulatively, the G4 has spent 64 years on the Security Council since the UN's inception, with each country serving at least a decade. By comparison, the three permanent members of the Security Council who have maintained their seats since the UN's founding (France, the U.K., and the U.S.) have each accrued 67 years of membership. The People's Republic of China has held its permanent seat for 41 years, since it replaced the Republic of China in 1971, and the Soviet Union held a permanent seat for 45 years before being replaced by Russia.
| Quick Comparison of G4 and P5 Members | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | GDP1 | UN funding2 | Defense budget1 |
Active military |
Nuclear arsenal |
||
| Brazil | G4 | 6190,732,694 (5th) | 4$2,493 (6th) | 31.611% (14th) | $35.4 (10th) | 4 327,710 (14th) | N NO |
| Germany | G4 | 382,329,758 (16th) | 6$3,577 (4th) | 78.018% (3rd) | $46.7 (9th) | 3 250,613 (22nd) | N NO3 |
| India | G4 | 81,210,193,422 (2nd) | 1$1,827 (10th) | 10.534% (27th) | $46.8 (8th) | 71,325,000 (3rd) | Y YES |
| Japan | G4 | 4128,056,026 (10th) | 7$5,867 (3rd) | 812.53% (2nd) | $59.3 (6th) | 2 230,300 (24th) | N NO |
| China | P5 | 91,347,338,352 (1st) | 8$7,298 (2nd) | 43.189% (8th) | $143.0 (2nd) | 92,285,000 (1st) | Y YES |
| France | P5 | 265,821,885 (21st) | 5$2,778 (5th) | 6.123% (5th) | $62.5 (5th) | 5 352,771 (13th) | Y YES |
| Russia | P5 | 5143,056,383 (9th) | 2$1,850 (9th) | 21.602% (15th) | $71.9 (3rd) | 61,027,000 (5th) | Y YES |
| UK | P5 | 163,047,162 (22nd) | 3$2,431 (7th) | 66.604% (4th) | $62.7 (4th) | 1 197,780 (26th) | Y YES |
| US | P5 | 7312,913,872 (3rd) | 9$15,076 (1st) | 922.00% (1st) | $711.0 (1st) | 91,458,219 (2nd) | Y YES |
| 1$US billions 2Percent contributed to total UN budget 3Takes part in NATO nuclear weapons sharing agreement | |||||||
According to the IMF, by 2015 the nine economies with the highest nominal GDP in the world will be those of the current "P5" members of the Security Council and the G4. As of 2011, all countries already figure in the top 10 list (per IMF data), both regarding the calculation of GDP by Purchasing Power Parity, and nominal GDP, with Italy being the only non P5 or G4 member among them. They also account for 9 of the world's ten largest defense budgets, with Saudi Arabia being the only non P5 or G4 member among them.
Read more about this topic: G4 Nations
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