On My Nightstand: Five To Rule Them All

I've been a frequent critic of the United Nations and its inability to deal with international crises, whether it is genocide in Rwanda or ethnic cleansing in Bosnia or dealing with international terrorism and rogue nations seeking nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction.

The Security Council was envisioned as a way to deal with these crises and was born of the post-World War II political environment. The US and Soviet Union were accompanied by France, the United Kingdom and China as the permanent members (though at the outset, China was represented by the nationalists who were ousted by the Communists and remained in Taiwan).

Five to Rule Them All: The UN Security Council and the Making of the Modern World
By David L. Bosco is a great primer for the history of the Security Council and the political machinations of the organization in response to the Cold War and post Cold War realities.