The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization that aims to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations. It was founded in 1945 after the Second World War by 51 countries committed to maintaining international peace and security. There are 195 countries in the world today. This total comprises 193 countries that are member states of the United Nations and 2 countries that are non-member observer states. Nobody “controls" it. It has a Secretary General is the leader of the body but decisions are made by the 5 permanent members of the Security Council, Russia, France, China, Britain and the U.S. As of 31 August 2015, there were a total of 106,506 UN peacekeeping personnel - consisting of 91,132 troops, 13,563 police and 1,811 military experts. The share of the troops reveals a significant gap in contributions - with developed countries contributing significantly less than their developing counterparts. The UN has no power to abolish a government, but it can refuse to recognize one. Taiwan is not in the UN because the world has agreed to pretend that it is not a nation, only a province of China. This compromise helps to prevent China from invading Taiwan.
