The reform of international institutions is notoriously difficult. The UN has been trying to reform itself for decades, particularly by reforming the Security Council, but there are so many players and so many linkages that even modest improvements are blocked. Substantial reforms require a great crisis with a massive realignment of forces. The Great Depression undermined the existing international institutions but it took WWII to create the space for a new beginning. It may be a very distant silver lining, but economic pressures may be increasing to a point where reform overcome inertia.