There is much the UN Security Council will never be able to do, no matter who occupies its plushest seats.
Last month a meeting of would-be donors to discuss ways of giving the Congolese a "peace dividend" was plunged into darkness by a power cut, despite being held in Kinshasa's plushest hotel.
Scenes like this take place often, from the fairest green patches of Riverside Park to the plushest red velvet-draped lobbies of the Claremont buildings.