In the U.S. Navy, Inspections measure readieness and perfor mance against standard criteria. These evolutions identify problems for correction and provide an opportunity for improvement. They can offer both assessment and prediction, but only when the inspecton understand the criteria and how they influence performance. Analogously, any evaluation of the United Nations, if it is to achieve comparable results, should proceed from a similar foundation-a shared understanding of standard criteria. Let us consider, then, how these familiar practices may be applied to an assessment of the United Nations