[Verse 1]
Nineteen forty-five, San Francisco, pen in hand,
Fifty founding nations signing on a shaky plan,
Charter drafted up while the ash of war stayed warm,
Said never again, let's engineer a sturdier form,
Now the roster's swollen, nearly two hundred strong,
Every flag's a verse inside this diplomatic song,
But the real muscle hides behind a guarded door,
Security Council, five seats, nothing more
[Chorus]
US, UK, France, Russia, China — that's the five,
Holding the veto card that keeps the whole deal alive,
One "no" from any one of them, the resolution's dead,
Permanent members wearing a crown without a head,
Charter is the skeleton, the Council is the spine,
Learn the five-fist grip and you'll remember every time
[Verse 2]
Forty-eight, Declaration, Eleanor at the helm,
Universal rights to steady a shell-shocked realm,
Thirty articles reading like a promise carved in stone,
Dignity's your birthright, never leased or loaned,
Fast-forward fifty years to Rome in '98,
Statute built a courthouse for the tyrants of the state,
International Criminal Court, The Hague's address,
Genocide and war crimes finally answer for the mess
[Chorus]
US, UK, France, Russia, China — that's the five,
Holding the veto card that keeps the whole deal alive,
One "no" from any one of them, the resolution's dead,
Permanent members wearing a crown without a head,
Charter is the skeleton, the Council is the spine,
Learn the five-fist grip and you'll remember every time
[Verse 3]
Two thousand five, the Assembly drew a harder line,
Said sovereignty's a duty, not a shield from crime,
If a state won't guard its people, lets the slaughter run,
Responsibility to Protect says the sheltering must be done,
Three pillars holding: protect, assist, and then respond,
From the state, then to the world, forging the bond,
Not a license to invade on a whim or a hunch,
A conscience clause the Charter added after lunch
[Bridge]
Cross the water, Brussels built a different kind of house,
A union of nations sharing currency and vows,
Deepest integration this earth has ever seen,
Pool your laws, blur your borders, live in between,
And Louis Henkin, scholar with the punctilious eye —
meaning careful to a fault, dotting every "i" —
said nations keep their promises almost all the time,
not flawless, just persistent — that's the quiet rhyme
[Chorus]
US, UK, France, Russia, China — that's the five,
Holding the veto card that keeps the whole deal alive,
One "no" from any one of them, the resolution's dead,
Permanent members wearing a crown without a head,
Charter is the skeleton, the Council is the spine,
Learn the five-fist grip and you'll remember every time
[Outro]
Forty-five to ninety-eight to Oh-five, watch it grow,
Rights and courts and duties, a slow diplomatic flow,
Almost all nations, almost all the time,
That's the system standing — imperfect, but it's climbing