The United Nations Security Council

The Security Council is the only body which can grant permission to violate a country's sovereignty against the will of that country. If the council votes to allow an invasion of country X, for whatever reason, there is no recourse, no court of appeals. Country X can do nothing but complain and prepare for the military attack.

The council can authorize other violations of sovereignty short of invasion: sanctions, no-fly zones, inspections, etc. This is an enormous amount of power. But getting the 15 members to agree on any given action is quite difficult. Especially since the five permanent members (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and United States) all have veto authority. Any one of them can single-handedly stop any given action. The other ten seats rotate through all other countries, big and small. But those members have only normal voting power, no veto.

The mural which dominates the Security Council chamber was painted by Norwegian artist Per Krogh. It depicts a phoenix rising and the triumph of hope over war.

In this photo:

U.N. Security Council Briefed On Situation In Myanmar
NEW YORK - The United Nations Security Council meets on the situation in Myanmar (October 5, 2007) in New York City. United Nations special envoy to Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari briefed the Security Council on his visit to Myanmar.

More:

• Can the Security Council be Fixed?
• U.N. Security Council (official site)