Regional organization

Organizations grouping almost all the countries in their respective continents. Note thatTurkeyis a member of both theCouncil of Europe(CoE) and theAsia Cooperation Dialogue(ACD). See also:international organization.

Several smaller regional organizations with non-overlapping memberships.

Several non-overlapping large alliances.Pastel colorsindicate observer/associate or candidate countries.

Regional organizations(ROs) are, in a sense,international organizations(IOs), as they incorporate international membership and encompassgeopoliticalentities that operationally transcend a singlenation state.However, their membership is characterized by boundaries and demarcations characteristic to a defined and unique geography, such as continents, or geopolitics, such aseconomic blocs.They have been established to foster cooperation and political andeconomic integrationor 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 ofWorld War IIas well as the fragmentation inherent inglobalization,which is why their institutional characteristics vary from loose cooperation to formalregional integration.Most ROs tend to work alongside well-established multilateral organizations such as theUnited Nations.While in many instances a regional organization is simply referred to as an international organization, in many others it makes sense to use the termregional organizationto stress the more limited scope of a particular membership.

Examples of ROs include, amongst others, theAfrican 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

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.