united nations
A good idea, but somewhat naive and inefficient. Like marriage and Communism, it looks good on paper but often fails in practice.
Formed shortly after the second World War, the idea was to bring representatives of numerous nations together in hope of discussing and peacefully solving whatever conflicts or disputes arose. They have done good in areas of Africa for example, but on the large scale it just doesn’t work. Each nation is far too preoccupied with self interest to prevent any large treaties or organizations from being set up or enforced. Perhaps the most visible example of failure would be the recent Iraqi crisis.