Idealism at the U.N

In July 2003, on the heels of the American invasion of Iraq, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan held an extraordinary press conference. He warned that we are "living through a crisis of the international system." Four months later he proceeded to appoint a group, the "High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change" to recommend reforms. Here, Glennon comments on the core recommendations of the panel's report, concerning the use of armed force, that it rest upon wishful thinking rather than empirical evidence.