Alliances & Organisations

The Western collective-defence treaty. An attack on one member is an attack on all.

Russia-led collective-security pact covering six post-Soviet states.

Eurasian security and economic body led by China and Russia, focused on regional stability.

The principal intergovernmental forum for international law, security, and development. 193 member states.

Political and economic union of 27 European states with a single market, common currency (eurozone), and shared institutions.

Informal forum of the seven largest advanced economies, meeting annually to coordinate policy.

Broader forum of 19 nations plus the EU and African Union, covering roughly 85% of global GDP.

The 'rich country' development club: 38 members committed to market democracy and open trade.

Emerging-economy bloc anchored by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, expanded in 2024 to 11 full members.

Ten-nation Southeast Asian bloc covering trade, diplomacy, and regional integration.

Continental body of 55 African states coordinating political, economic, and security affairs.

League of 22 Arab-speaking states promoting solidarity across the Arab world.

Hemispheric forum of 35 American states covering democracy, human rights, and security.

52-member association of mostly former British territories with shared institutions and values.

Six Gulf monarchies coordinating economic, security, and social policy.

21-economy Pacific Rim forum focused on trade liberalisation and investment.

South American customs union; Bolivia became the fifth full member in 2024, Venezuela remains suspended.

West African economic community; twelve members since Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger completed their withdrawal in January 2025.

Confederation of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger under the July 2024 treaty, formed on leaving ECOWAS.

Sixteen southern African states from Angola and DR Congo to South Africa and Madagascar.

Eight partner states with a customs union and common market, and a proposed political federation; Somalia joined in 2024.

Eleven central African states from Chad to Angola.

Horn of Africa bloc of eight; Eritrea resumed its membership in 2023.

Five Maghreb states; largely dormant since the 1990s over the Western Sahara dispute.

Fifteen Caribbean members including Guyana, Suriname and Haiti; Montserrat is a member but not a country here.

Eight Central American and Caribbean states, the Dominican Republic included.

Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru; Chile and the Mercosur states are associates.

Venezuela and Cuba's alliance of ten, mostly Caribbean, states.

Eighteen Pacific members from Australia and New Zealand to the atoll states; French Polynesia and New Caledonia are members but not countries here.

Eight South Asian states; summits have been stalled since 2014 by the India-Pakistan dispute.

Seven states around the Bay of Bengal, the grouping India has favoured over SAARC.

Russia-led economic union of five with a common market; observers include Uzbekistan and Cuba.

Post-Soviet association; Ukraine and Georgia have left, Moldova is withdrawing from its agreements, Turkmenistan is an associate.

Five Turkic-speaking states; Hungary and Turkmenistan observe.

The four European states outside the EU with single-market access: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland.

The five Nordic states with the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland; a parliamentary body since 1952.

Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg; the 1944 customs union that preceded the EU.

Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia; a political grouping since 1991.

The 2020 successor to NAFTA.

Twelve Pacific-rim economies; the United Kingdom acceded in December 2024.

The ten ASEAN states with Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea; the largest trade bloc by population.

12-member oil cartel that coordinates production to influence global crude prices.

OPEC plus 10 allied producers including Russia, Kazakhstan, and Malaysia.