The G4 Nations is a political cooperative alliance, or grouping, of four countries: Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan. It was formally established in 2005 with the primary aim of reforming the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The grouping was created because the UNSC's current structure, which reflects the geopolitical realities of the post-World War II era, is considered outdated and unrepresentative of contemporary global power dynamics.
The core mechanism of the G4 is the mutual support for each other's bids to secure permanent seats on an expanded UNSC. The G4 advocates for the expansion of the Council in both the permanent and non-permanent categories of membership. For instance, in 2005, the bloc circulated a draft resolution proposing to enlarge the Council from 15 to 25 members, adding six new permanent seats—four for the G4 themselves and two for African states—and four additional non-permanent seats. The G4 nations regularly meet, often on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly session, to coordinate their strategy.
The G4's efforts are directly connected to the broader UNSC reform process, which is formally discussed within the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) framework, established by General Assembly Decision 62/557 in September 2008. The legal basis for any expansion lies in Article 23 and Article 108 of the UN Charter. The G4's proposals are notably opposed by the Uniting for Consensus (UfC) movement, led by Italy, which rejects the expansion of permanent seats. Recently, the G4 ministers have renewed their push for urgent reform, calling the IGN framework "ineffective" and stressing the need for text-based negotiations to expedite the process, while the core demand for expansion in both categories has remained constant.