Many commentators believe that the recent report of the United Nations' High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Changes is about global security. Would that it were. In fact, the report is mainly concerned with strengthening the UN Security Council. The two are not the same, and therein lies the report's chief flaw.

The panel's central conclusion is that, without Security Council approval, no state should use force to defend itself against a threat that is not imminent. The gravity of the threat and the probability of its occurrence are irrelevant. Even if the state knows that some other state or terrorist group is planning a nuclear strike against it, its only recourse is to seek permission from the Security Council to use defensive force. If the Council dallies, too bad: the target state must ask again.