When governments, urged along by civil society, come together to create the International Criminal Court, that is the international community at work for the rule of law. When we see an outpouring of international aid to the victims of recent earthquakes in Turkey and Greece – a great deal of it from those having no apparent link with Turkey or Greece except for a sense of common humanity – that is the international community following its humanitarian impulse. When people come together to press governments to relieve the world's poorest countries from crushing debt burdens … that is the international community throwing its weight behind the cause of development. When the popular conscience, outraged at the carnage caused by land mines, succeeds in banning these deadly weapons, that is the international community at work for collective security. There are many more examples of the international community at work, from peacekeeping to human rights to disarmament and development. At the same time there are important caveats. The idea of the international community is under perfectly legitimate attack because of its own frequent failings.