International Alliances & Organizations in Brief
UN, INTERPOL, IMF, WTO, OECD, EU, NATO, G20, OPEC, ASIAN, SAARC, BIMSTEC, BRICKS
UN
Secretary‑General: António Guterres (Portugal)
Headquarter: New York City, New York, US
Founded: 24 October 1945, San Francisco, California, United States
Founding Members: 51
Current Members: 193
UN System agencies: World Bank Group, the WHO, the World Food Programme, UNESCO and UNICEF
The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization tasked to promote and secure international co-operation and to create and maintain international order.
ICPO-INTERPOL (International Criminal Police Organization)
Founded: 1923
President: Kim Jong Yang (South Korea)
Secretary General: Jürgen Stock (Germany)
Headquarter: Lyon, France
Current Members: 192 Countries
IMF (International Monetary Fund)
Headquarter: Washington DC, US
MD: Christine Lagarde (France)
Founded: 27 December 1945
Current Members: 189 countries
Purpose: Promote international monetary co-operation, facilitate international trade, foster sustainable economic growth, make resources available to members experiencing balance of payments difficulties
WTO (World Trade Organization)
Founded: 1 January, 1995
Headquarter: Centre William Rappard, Geneva, Switzerland
Director-General: Roberto Azevêdo (Brazil)
Current Members: 164
WTO is an intergovernmental organization that regulates international trade.
OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)
Founded: 16 April 1948
Headquarters: Paris, France
Current Members: 36 states
Secretary-General: José Ángel Gurría (Mexico)
It is a forum of countries describing themselves as committed to democracy and the market economy, providing a platform to compare policy experiences, seeking answers to common problems, identify good practices and coordinate domestic and international policies of its members.
EU (European Union)
Founded: 4 April, 1949
Capital: Brussels
Current Members: 28 States
EU is a political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe.
The EU has developed an internal single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states in those matters (only) where members have agreed to act as one.
EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services and capital within the internal market, enact legislation in justice and home affairs and maintain common policies on trade, agriculture, fisheries and regional development.
NATO (The North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
Founded: 4 April, 1949
Headquarter: Brussels, Belgium
Secretary General: Jens Stoltenberg (Norway)
Founding Members: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the UK and the US.
Current Members: 29 (2 North American + 27 European)
Nuclear Weapons States: France, the UK, the US
Member with no Army: Iceland
NATO is the international alliance that was established at the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty, after world war II.
Article 5 of the Treaty: If an armed attack occurs against one of the member states, it should be considered an attack against all members, and other members shall assist the attacked member, with armed forces if necessary.
G 20 (Group of Twenty)
Founded: 26 September 1999
Current Members: 20 member states (19 Countries + EU)
Chairman: Mauricio Macri ( Argentina)
G20 aims to discuss policy pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability. It seeks to address issues that go beyond the responsibilities of any one organization.
OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries)
Headquarter: Vienna, Austria
Current Members: 15 Nations
Founded: September 1960
Founding Members: Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela
Secretary General: Mohammed Barkindo (Nigeria)
44 percent of global oil production and 81.5 percent of the world’s “proven” oil reserves.
Mission: coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of its member countries and ensure the stabilization of oil markets, in order to secure an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consumers, a steady income to producers, and a fair return on capital for those investing in the petroleum industry.
ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)
Headquarter: Jakarta, Indonesia
Current Members: 10 states
Secretary General: Lim Jock Hoi (Brunei)
Founded: 8 August 1967
ASEAN promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational, and sociocultural integration among its members and other Asian states.
SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation)
Founded: 8 December, 1985 (In Dhaka)
Headquarter: Kathmandu, Nepal
Current Members: 8 (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka)
Secretary-General: Amjad B. Hussain (Pakistan)
SAARC is the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of nations in South Asia.
BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation)
Founded: 6 June 1997
Current Members: 7( Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand , Nepal and Bhutan)
Secretariat: Dhaka, Bangladesh
Chairmanship: Sri Lanka
BIMSTEC is an international organisation of seven nations of South Asia and South East Asia, housing 1.5 billion people and having a combined gross domestic product of $3.5 trillion (2018).
BRICS
Current Members: 5 (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa)
10th Annual BRICS summit: 25–27 July 2018, South Africa
BRICS is the acronym coined for an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Bilateral relations among BRICS nations have mainly been conducted on the basis of non-interference, equality, and mutual benefit.
Information collected from various resources, mainly Wikipedia.
