The UN is the nearest thing to a world parliament. It has 191 member countries. They vote, discuss and try to sort rules for things like health, refugees and children's rights.
Since its creation in 1945, after the horrors of world war II, the UN has often been used to prevent disputes from escalating into war. As George W Bush puts it: "The founding members resolved that the peace of the world must never again be destroyed by the will and wickedness of any man."
Warring parties are encouraged to find political rather than military solutions. The UN will try to restore peace when conflict does break out. But it is sometimes blamed for ineffectual peacekeeping, as it was during the fighting in Somalia, Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.
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