The creation of a new global institution including all democracies is unlikely to get sufficient support and might even have a fatal effect on the efforts to undertake the necessary reform of the UN. However, a pragmatic approach in which democracies assume responsibility to act in obvious and unequivocal cases of humanitarian disasters or terrorist threats if the UN is incapable of action may well be an alternative and more frequently used in the future. In such cases acting within an alliance and cooperating with other countries may give greater legitimacy and increase effectiveness.