Veto power in the United Nations

To veto means to reject a decision made by someone and to have the right of stopping the application of this decision. There are five countries in the United Nations that have the right of vetoing the decisions made by other countries. These five nations are China, the USA, Russia, the United Kingdom and France, the winners of World War 2. They are permanent members of the Security Council, the executive branch of the UN. Throughout the history of the UN, they have used their veto power to stop resolutions that were non convenient for their interests. This is an important handicap to the effectiveness of the United Nations.

This graph shows the current composition of the Security Council:

Source: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/11/08/103390/obama-takes-indias-side-with-un.html

 This graph shows the use of veto by every permanent member of the Security Council from 1946 to 2005: 

Source: http://mondediplo.com/maps/unveto

On this link you can read more about the use every country has made of the veto power: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_veto_power

And the following cartoons criticize the use of the veto power: 

Source: http://heatherfreitag.wordpress.com/2010/11/09/the-dip-in-diplomacy/

Source: http://www.cartoonmovement.com/cartoon/404

Source: http://es.toonpool.com/cartoons/UN%20security%20council%20-%20Burma_7263#img9

Source: http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2010/10/hiding-truth-behind-euphemisms.html