regional organisations knowledge flashcards

NAFTA/USMCA (1): *United States - Mexico - Canada Agreement

NAFTA was created by the USA, Canada and Mexico, coming into force in 1994 (est. 1992). It is an economic regional group. Its successor, UMSCA, was formed in 2018 as the states negotiated a new agreement - the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which came into force in 2020. NAFTA aimed to eliminate tariffs and barriers to trade between the 3 states, and to be organised with an intergovernmental decision-making process. However, …

UMSCA, although fundamentally not different, America won concessions over labour laws in Mexico and minimum wages for car production, which were designed to reduce the capacity for Mexico’s low-wage economy to undercut American producers. NAFTA has long split public opinion - opponents argue it costs American jobs and disproportionately benefits Mexico. Trump announced in 2016 that the US would leave NAFTA - citing complaints over state subsidised industries in other member states. Trump referred to it in his 2016 presidential campaign as the ‘single worst trade deal ever approved’.

NAFTA/USMCA (2): *United States - Mexico - Canada Agreement

Pros:

•  Trade has more than tripled between the countries. 

• Side agreements have been created, such as the North American Agreement of Environment Cooperation (NAAEC) which aims to work cooperatively to better improve the protection of their environments. 

• The North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC) aims to improve working and living conditions and to protect, enhance and enforce basic workers rights.

Cons:

• Highly controversial, with Trump threatening to withdraw in 2017 due to the perceived impact on US jobs. 

• The stark differences economically, politically and socially between the partners makes deeper integration unlikely.

African Union (1):

The AU is a political regional organisation within the continent, founded in 1999, but only coming into effect from 2002. The AU replaced the defunct Organisation of African Unity (1963) which began with 32 states. It now has 55 African member states and is led by the Assembly of the African Union, a body made up of all the heads of government of the AU. The AU has a parliament called the Pan-African Parliament, which is elected by the national legislatures of all the member states. It has sophisticated mechanisms for decision-making and …

representing individual states, including the AU commission and Executive Council. It aims and is designed to allow for integration of African states while increasing their political voice on the world stage; to achieve solidarity between African states. Additionally, it holds a commitment to addressing social and economic and political problems unique to African nations. Unlike NAFTA it is designed to represent states politically. It aims to defend sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of its member states.

African Union (2):

Pros:

• The AU changed focus from supporting liberation movements in the colonial and apartheid territories under the OAU to an organisation spearheading Africa’s development and integration.

• Previously sent military forces to Sudan during the conflict in Darfur, Burundi and Somalia. 

• The African Court of Justice and Human Rights rules on legal matters and rights issues. 

• It has far reaching plans including tackling poverty, establishing a human rights court, a central bank and a single market with a shared currency.

Cons:

Its plans to further integrate are limited by finances, the fact many member states are autocracies, disagreements about the best way to develop and by its failures to act in Libya.

The Arab League (1):

The Arab League formed in 1945 with Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt. It was created to give Arab states a stronger voice globally, by ‘speaking’ collectively, and to reduce conflict between member states. It now has 22 Arab-speaking member states including Mauritania, Qatar and Palestine etc. spanning across the Middle East and North Africa. It holds the primary aims to 1. …

 Strengthen relations between the member states; coordinate their policies in order to achieve cooperation between them and 2. safeguard their independence and sovereignty and a general concern with the affairs and interest of the Arab region. In 2015 the league agreed to set up a military organisation called the joint Arab military force. As of 2024, this still hasn’t happened however. 

The Arab League (2):

Pros:

• Originally the League’s agenda was about ending colonial rule but its aims are now much broader.

• Since the Arab Spring in 2011 it has been more proactive, backing UN action in Libya and suspending Syria over its repression of the protests.

• It is agreed in its support for Palestinians and has been successful at a cultural level across member states, for instance with shaping school curricula.

Cons:

• It is badly split and decisions are only binding on members who voted for them, so has made very little progress towards its own aims. 

• Most recently, Syria was expelled and the wars in Libya and Syria have proven serious issues and has divided the league over how to act in conflict. 

• After the Arab Spring revolutions in the early 2010s, it seemed that the league was gaining more of a role, but the league has been paralysed by the differences between member states.

ASEAN (1): *The Association of South East Asian Nations

Founded in 1967 by its 5 key states (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand) to promote cooperation, it was initially set up to combat communism via security. It has since largely moved into being an economic organisation. It has expanded to 11 nations, including: Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Timor Leste and Vietnam.  It aims to 1. …

accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region and promote regional peace and stability 2. manage conflicts between the nations that arose as a result of decolonisation  and the Cold War. The end of the Cold War and creation of WTO in the 90s made international cooperation vital. It has 3 main roles: to be a political and security alliance between the states, as an economic community and a cultural community.

ASEAN (2): *The Association of South East Asian Nations

Pros:

• Originally formed to settle intra-region disputes and resist superpower influence, ASEAN was about security regionalism.

• It seems more like the EU than other regional blocs - it has developed 3 pillars: the ASEAN political security community, the ASEAN economic community and the ASEAN socio-cultural community. 

• In 2017, it was negotiating the Regional comprehensive economic partnership to establish a free trade bloc with its member states and China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, NZ and India. This would become the worlds largest trading bloc. 

• The ASEAN summit takes place annually and is an authoritative place for the ASEAN states to discuss issues. The group agrees to issues by consensus.

• ASEAN played a key role in creating the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in 2020 - the giant free trade ozone covering east and southeast Asia and Australia.

Cons:

• Has remained purely an intergovernmental body as its core principle is the respect for state sovereignty,

• It is further hampered by differences in the political stability, economic development, values and religions of the member states.

• As a supranational organisation like the EU, it upholds the principle of noninterference in the domestic affairs of other states. This means the organisation has largely ignored the issue of the Rohingya genocide in member-state Myanmar.

Kyrgyzstan case study:

ven fairly unremarkable countries tend to be members of a wide variety of regional organisations. Kyrgyzstan, with a population of around 7 million, was a member of the following groups in 2025:

1. The Commonwealth of Independent States:

Formed in 1991 by 9 member states, including Russia and all former Soviet Union states, as a co-op on political, economic, military and crime affairs. 

2. The Eurasian Economic Union:

Formed in 2015 (out of previous agreements) with 5 member states, including Russia and former Soviet states as an economic co-op for free trade. 

3. The Collective Security Treaty Organisation:

A military alliance formed in 1992/2002, with 6 members including Russia and former Soviet states. 

4. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation:

A political and economic co-op formed in 2001 - now has 10 members including Russia, China, India and Iran. the world's largest regional organisation in terms of landmass and population.

5. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation:

A political co-op based on religious identity, formed in 1969, now with 57 members, saying it is “the collective voice of the Muslim world”.

6. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe:

Formed in 1973 as a security and rights organisation, now with 57 members across Europe, Asia and North America … so not very ‘regionalism’.

7. The Organisation of Turkic States:

A co-op between ethnically Turkic nations, formed in 2009, now with 5 members including Turkey and Kazakhstan. 

8. The International Organisation of Turkic Culture:

Cultural co-op between Turkic speaking states, formed in 1993, now with 5 members including Turkey and central Asian states. 

Other Regional Organisations

Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS):

Founded in May 1975 by 15 West African nations including Nigeria, Mali and Ghana under the Treaty of Lagos. Its headquarters is in Abuja, Nigeria. ECOWAS aims to foster economic integration, raise living standards and ensure regional stability. Key objectives include harmonising national policies across agriculture, industry, transport, trade, finance and …

social affairs. It established a free-trade area in 1990 and adopted a common external tariff in January 2015. The bloc maintains a peace and security mechanism, including a standby force to respond to regional crises. 

• ECOWAS successfully deployed peacekeeping forces (ECOMOG) to Liberia in the 1990s and the Gambia in 2017, restoring order and supporting democratic governance on both occasions.

Mercosur (Southern South American Common Market):

Mercosur was created by the Treaty of Asuncion in 1991 by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, with its legal framework later strengthened by the Ouro Preto Protocol of 1994. Its headquarters is in Montevideo, Uruguay. The bloc aims to establish a customs union and common market by harmonising economic policies, eliminating internal tariffs (formally beginning in 1995) and negotiating trade agreements externally. In 2019 …

its founding members accounted for roughly 69% of South America’s GDP and had major export strengths in soy, beef, chicken, corn and iron. Membership has expanded and associate states exist including Colombia and Ecuador, though Venezuela’s membership has been suspended since 2016.  

• Mercosur has struggled to achieve full economic integration; internal political rights and protectionist policies, such as between Brazil and Argentina, have stalled a common market and delayed the long-negotiated EU-Mercosur trade deal

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC):

The Gulf Cooperation Council was established in 1981 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with founding members Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE. Its charter emphasises coordination of economic, financial, trade, customs, tourism, legislation and scientific-technical progress among the member states. The GCC is rooted in …

 shared geography, Arab-Islamic culture and security interests. The highest decision-making body is the Supreme Council (heads of states) which meets annually; the Ministerial Council (foreign ministers) meets quarterly. 

• The 2017–2021 Qatar diplomatic crisis, where Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Bahrain imposed a blockade on Qatar, exposed deep political divisions and weakened GCC unity and credibility.

Pacific Islands Forum (PIF):

Founded in 1971 (originally as the South Pacific Forum) and renamed in 1999, the Pacific Islands Forum is an inter-governmental body of 18 member states and territories from the region, including Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa and others. Headquartered in Suva, Fiji, it provides a regional platform for heads of government to discuss issues of shared interest. The forum adopted the Biketwa Declaration in 2000 …

establishing principles of open, democratic, clean government, equal rights and regional responses to crises. Its vision is a resilient, inclusive and prosperous Pacific “blue continent”.

• The PIF’s leadership in climate diplomacy — including the 2015 “Suva Declaration” — helped secure stronger global recognition of Pacific climate vulnerability and influenced the Paris Agreement negotiations.

Nordic Council: 

The Nordic Council was established in 1952 by Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden; Finland later joined in 1955 along with the autonomous Danish territories of the Faroe Islands, Aland and Greenland. It is the official body for inter-parliamentary cooperation among the 8 Nordic parliaments and comprises 87 elected members. The council meets annually in its Ordinary Session and also hosts a Theme Session, and its precedency rotates among the countries. Its work covers …

committees for areas such as welfare, culture, sustainable regional growth and development. It proposes initiatives for governments to improve everyday life and strengthen the region’s global role. 

• The Nordic Passport Union (1954) and free movement agreements exemplify successful regional integration, enabling citizens to live and work across Nordic countries decades before the EU adopted similar policies.

Forum for the Progress of South America (PROSUR):

PROSUR was launched in March 2019 in Santiago, Chile by 8 South American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay and Peru) signing the Declaration of Santiago. It was proposed by Chilean President Sebastian Pinera and Colombian President Ivan Duque as a lighter, non bureaucratic forum “without ideology … with commitment to freedom, democracy and human rights”. PROSURs structure is …

 flexible and aims at integration in infrastructure, energy, health, security and disaster relief. It is widely seen as a market-oriented, right-leaning successor to the defunct Union of South American Nations (UNASUR).

• Despite ambitious goals, PROSUR has delivered limited tangible results; shifting political tides (e.g., left-leaning governments since 2022) have sidelined the forum, leading to stalled cooperation and waning influence.

(i) Economic Regionalism:

States have shared economic aims and therefore incentives to cooperate may form a regional bloc (usually based on trade deals). For example, NAFTA, now USMCA, is based solely on trade. This agreement between the US, Canada and Mexico enables them to trade freely with one another through the reduction of trade barriers. Often states make mutually beneficial trade agreements, which enable them to maximise their own economies. This may be via a …

states such as taxes, tariffs, quotas and embargoes. States use regional protectionist policies to protect domestic trade. For example, they may place limitations on quotes from outside their region, which fortifies their own economies by restricting imports, domestic populations are encouraged to buy within the region. 

Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership:

This originally was the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a regional trade deal agreed in 2016 between the states of the Pacific rim, but excluding China and the US. President Barack Obama had championed the trade deal, but his successor President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the TPP on 28 January 2017. The remaining countries replaced it with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. 

The United-States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA):

Agreed between Canada, Mexico and the US originally in 1994 as NAFTA, and updated in 2018.

African Free Trade Area:

A free trade area founded in 2018, with trade commencing in 2021. It was created by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, including 54 of the 55 African nations, and it is the largest free trade area in the world since the formation of the WTO.

(ii) Political Regionalism:

 It can be a deeper form of integration as it requires shared cultural ties and a common value system, both of which give a regional bloc a more distinct identity. Often there will be longer term strategic aims and a broader political vision. Countries that enter into political regionalism will generally gain an advantage from pooling sovereignty because they are more influential collectively than they are individually. Therefore …

political regionalism can significantly increase states’ structural power within IGOs and informal forums. Eg. The EU is a member of the G20 and is an observer state of the UN. regional blocs might fit into the various forms of regionalism. In practice, this won’t always be clear-cut and some of these definitions are open to debate. Over time, regionalism has evolved to include both a widening and a deepening of regional relations.

Arab League:

This was founded in 1945 and comprises 22 member states (as of 2017, Syria’s membership was suspended) across the Middle East and North Africa region. The Arab League does not have its own institutions that operate in the same way as those of the EU. Rather, it conducts its business primarily through Arab League summits, in which it aims to agree common positions on any policy area of shared interest.

Alliance of Small Island States (ASIS):

Established in 1990 with no formal constitution, ASIS was created to give a unified voice to small island states at risk from climate change. It comprises many small states, including the Maldives, Nauru (one of the world’s smallest states) and Seychelles. ASIS allows these states to work together in organisations such as the UN and at major climate change change conferences to achieve greater influence than they would alone.

(iii) Security Regionalism:

 States make an alliance to strengthen their regional borders. Often this involves militaristic alliance or agreements that if an outsider attacks any of the states within the regional bloc, all regional members will react. Therefore …

security regionalism directly relates to defence policies, while alliance of such states may be centred on a common threat.

Operation Irini (Greek for peace):

Launched in 2020, is an example of the EUs efforts towards security regionalism. Run by the EU Naval Force under a new CDSP, it aims to enforce the UN arms embargo to Libya following the Libyan civil war in order to help the peace process in the country. Using aerial, satellite and maritime resources, IRINI is able to inspect vessels off the coast of Libya that may be carrying arms. It can also …

gather information about smuggling and human trafficking and can help train the Libyan coastguard and navy. IRINI replaced Operation Sophia, the EU’s previous military operation launched in 2015 focused on preventing human trafficking across established routes in the Mediterranean.