Regional organization
Regional organizations (ROs) are, in a sense, international organizations (IOs), as they incorporate international membership and encompass geopolitical entities that operationally transcend a single nation state. However, their membership is characterized by boundaries and demarcations characteristic to a defined and unique geography, such as continents, or geopolitics, such as economic blocs. They have been established to foster cooperation and political and economic integration or dialogue among states or entities within a restrictive geographical or geopolitical boundary. They both reflect common patterns of development and history that have been fostered since the end of World War II as well as the fragmentation inherent in globalization, which is why their institutional characteristics vary from loose cooperation to formal regional integration.[1] Most ROs tend to work alongside well-established multilateral organizations such as the United Nations.[2] While in many instances a regional organization is simply referred to as an international organization, in many others it makes sense to use the term regional organization to stress the more limited scope of a particular membership.
Examples of ROs include, amongst others, the African Union (AU), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Arab League (AL), Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Council of Europe (CoE), Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), European Union (EU), South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO), Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), Union of South American Nations (USAN).
See also
- International organization
- List of intergovernmental organizations
- List of regional organizations by population
- List of trade blocs
- Regional Economic Communities
- Regional integration
- Supranational union
References
- ^ Spandler, Kilian (2018). Regional Organizations in International Society: ASEAN, the EU and the Politics of Normative Arguing. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-3-319-96895-7.
- ^ United Nations. "Cooperation with regional organizations", in Annual Report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization 1995, ch. 4
Further reading
- Tanja A. Börzel and Thomas Risse (2016), The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Regionalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Rodrigo Tavares (2009), Regional Security: The Capacity of International Organizations. London and New York: Routledge.
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- African Union
- Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization
- Arab League
- Arctic Council
- Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
- Asia Cooperation Dialogue
- Asia Council
- Asia-Europe Foundation
- Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
- Assembly of European Regions
- Association of Caribbean States
- AUKUS
- Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation
- Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – Peoples' Trade Treaty
- British–Irish Council
- Bucharest Nine
- Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
- Central American Integration System
- Central European Free Trade Agreement
- Commonwealth of Independent States
- Commonwealth of Nations
- Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations
- Community of Democratic Choice
- Community of Latin American and Caribbean States
- Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership
- Council of the Baltic Sea States
- Council of Europe
- Craiova Group
- East African Community
- Economic Community of West African States
- Economic Cooperation Organization
- Eurasian Economic Union
- European Political Community
- European Union
- Forum for the Progress and Integration of South America
- GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development
- Gulf Cooperation Council
- Indian Ocean Rim Association
- Liptako–Gourma Authority
- Latin American Integration Association
- Latin American Parliament
- Lublin Triangle
- Melanesian Spearhead Group
- Mercosur
- Nordic Council
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
- Open Balkan
- Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States
- Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
- Organization of American States
- Organization of Ibero-American States
- Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation
- Pacific Alliance
- Pacific Islands Forum
- Paneuropean Union
- Polynesian Leaders Group
- Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
- Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
- South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
- South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone
- Southern African Development Community
- TAKM
- Three Seas Initiative
- Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat
- Organization of Turkic States
- Union of South American Nations
- Visegrád Group
- West Nordic Council
- Western Balkans Quad
- Regional integration
- Regional organizations by population
- Regionalism (international relations)