In a world where groups of thugs can take over failed states and modern technology enables small groups of fanatics to kill millions of people, more intervention by the international community in the sovereignty of individual nations will be necessary. Such intervention cannot be left to the United States acting alone or with just a few allies.
What is needed is a reformed and strengthened U.N. Security Council with the credibility to give or withhold legitimacy to the international use of force. As recent events have shown, the current council does not have that credibility.
Current discussion of the future role of the Security Council is polarized between contemptuous dismissal of any international political system and the bland assumption that the current structure of the Security Council is adequate to deal with international problems.