The United Nations Security Council has become significantly more active since the end of the Cold War. Nowhere is this more evident than in the increased resort to Chapter VII of the Charter, under which the Council can make decisions that are binding on member States. Despite the authority vested in the Security Council through Chapter VII, there is occasional disagreement over whether specific resolutions are indeed adopted under Chapter VII or not. Drawing on such disagreements, this paper develops a definition of Chapter VII resolutions. On the basis of this definition, the paper goes on to present an overview of the use of Chapter VII for the period 1946-2007, and relates it to world wide conflict patterns. It illustrates and explores the increased use of Chapter VII in the post-Cold War era, as well as the distribution of Chapter VII resolutions across conflicts and issues on the Council’s agenda. The paper concludes by raising a few questions about possible consequences of the extensive use of Chapter VII for, most importantly, the legitimacy and the effectiveness of the Security Council.