UN: Like Lilliputians trying to pin down Gulliver, a group of small nations launched an effort this week to pressure the UN Security Council to change its ways.
Their proposed reforms would have the exclusive power club interact more with the rest of the UN members and follow up on resolutions it passes.
The proposal even takes on the council's most sacred symbol of power - the veto.
So far, the permanent powers are treating the small states like a swarm of gnats, but if the General Assembly adopts the resolution, as looks likely, the Security Council will be under pressure, though not obliged, to respond.
While a separate reform effort has focused on adding more seats to the 15-member Security Council, five small countries - Switzerland, Singapore, Jordan, Costa Rica and Liechtenstein - say that it is just as important to make the council more accountable and open.
The small states insist the changes would be in the council's own interest: the Security Council can legislate for the world, but it depends on the rest of the member states to implement its decisions.
If the others don't feel involved, the sponsors point out, the resolutions may simply be ignored.
"More than half of the UN membership is made up of small countries that normally only get a chance at a seat in the Security Council every 10 or 20 years," said Swiss ambassador Peter Maurer.
"So it is important for the council to interact more with the general membership and to be more representative."
The group points to a raft of resolutions having to do with Israel, Sudan and especially Iraq, that languished for years without enforcement and ultimately exacerbated conflicts rather than helping solve them.
Most contentious, the new proposals touch on the hallowed veto. Only the permanent five members of the Security Council - the US, Britain, China, France and Russia - have the right unilaterally to reject any proposal before the council.
The small states want to require the permanent members to explain every veto to the General Assembly and to not use the veto on humanitarian emergencies, such as intervention against genocide or war crimes.
So far, reactions to the proposal have been dismissive. US ambassador John R Bolton has said he wouldn't even look at the resolution.
"I believe that the Security Council needs to reform," he said. "But it should come from the Security Council."
The reform resolution will be debated on Thursday by the General Assembly and is expected to be voted on early next year.