The Security Council, a committee composed of 15 members, assumes a significant role in the United Nations as it concerns itself with maintaining international peace and security across borders. The committee focuses on settling disputes through peaceful means and usually works to arrive at compromises and settlements as opposed to taking violent measures to resolve a peace-threatening issue. In extreme cases, however, the Security Council may decide to resort to authorize the use of force in order to ensure peace, or to impose sanctions on threats to international peace and security. The committee consists of ten elected members, and five permanent representatives of China, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and the Russian Federation, more popularly known as the P5.