Many supporters of the recent Iraq war, even while claiming that there was sufficient authority for it in previous Security Council resolutions, have asserted that the United Nations has proved itself irrelevant, or worse, because the Council did not explicitly mandate military action to enforce those earlier resolutions. At the same time, many opponents of military action have concluded that the UN is useless because it was unable to prevent the war. The reform chorus is in full cry. But what reforms are needed and would they make the organisation work better?