20. Introduction to Regional Organizations

Introduction to Regional Organizations       The world has witnessed, since the end of the Second World War, a proliferation of regional organizations of various types and forms. Regional organizations are international associations link together geographically and ideologically related states. Many factors have contributed to the creation of such organizations.  The Cold War, the failure of the Security Council of the United Nations in performing its primary responsibilities in maintaining international peace and security, the eagerness of the newly independent states to cooperate together for common interests, the desire of states for economic cooperation,  all stimulated the creation of regional organizations, whether defense alliances such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Warsaw Pact, or general cooperation organization such as the League of Arab States, the Organization of African Unity (transformed into African Union), and the Organization of American States, or economic cooperation such as the European Communities[1] (thereafter transformed into the European Union).     Today, there are many regional organizations of various types and forms in Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, and the Pacific.  In the following, the main and the most important organizations are mentioned.  In Europe, there are the European Union (EU), the Council of Europe (COE)[2], the Western European Union (WEU)[3], the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe (OCSE)[4], the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)[5], and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)[6]. In the American continent, there is the Organization of American states (OAS). In Africa, there is the African Union (AU). In Asia, there is the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).[7] Related to the Arab World, there are the League of Arab States, and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC).  Related to the Islamic World, there is the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

[1] Namely the European Coal and Steal Community (ECSC), The European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Community of Atomic Energy (Euratum).  The European Union.   [2] COE was created in 1949 with wide-ranging cooperative aims. Currently, there are forty-six member states in the Council.  See generally C. Archer, Organizing Europe, chapter 4, London (1994); T. Ouchterlony, The Council of Europe in the New Europe, Edinburgh (1991), and M. Shaw, International Law, pp. 319-21 & 1171-72, Cambridge (2003). See also the COE web site at //www.coe.int/.[3] WEU was founded in 1948 as a defense arrangement. Today it is a defense component of the EU, and a means for strengthening the European pillar of the Atlantic Alliance. See generally Archer, chapter 10, and Shaw, pp. 1170-71. See also //www.weu.int/.[4] OCSE was emerged in 1995 from the Helsinki Process that initiated by the Helsinki Conference of European states (plus the United States of America and Canada) in 1975.  It is concerned with three areas: security questions in Europe; cooperation in the fields of economic, science and technology; and cooperation in human rights, humanitarian fields and democracy. Currently, there are fifty-five member states in the Organization. See Shaw, pp. 1179-81; and OCSE web site at //www.osce.org/.   [5] NATO was created in 1949 as a defense alliance to counter the Soviet’s threat. Originally, it comprised the Western European States, Greece, Turkey, US and Canada; currently, it includes the Western and Eastern European States, Turkey, US and Canada. See generally The NATO Handbook, Brussels (2002); Archer, chapter 9; and Shaw, pp. 1168-70. See NATO web site at //www. nato.int/.

[6] CIS was established by an agreement signed by Russia, Belarus and Ukraine in Minsk on 8 December 1991, to which other states adhered.  Currently, it comprises all the former Soviet Republic apart from the three Baltic States. See Shaw, pp. 1181-2.[7] ASEAN was established in 1967 as an organization for both economic and political cooperation. Currently, it comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. See generally T.W. Allen, ASEAN Report, 2 vols., Washington (1979); A. Broinowski (ed.), Understanding ASEAN, London (1982); Shaw, pp. 1185-6. See also ASEAN web site at //aseansec.org/.