ORGANIZATIONS

1. SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANIZATION (SCO)

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a Eurasian political, economic,
international security and defense organization established by China and Russia in 2001.
It is the world's largest regional organization in terms of geographic scope and
population, covering approximately 80% of the area of Eurasia, 40% of the world
population. As of 2021, its combined GDP was around 20% of global GDP.
The SCO is the successor to the Shanghai Five, formed in 1996 between the People's
Republic of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. In June 2001, the
leaders of these nations and Uzbekistan met in Shanghai to announce a new organization
with deeper political and economic cooperation. In June 2017, it expanded to eight states,
with India and Pakistan. Iran joined the group in July 2023. Several countries are engaged
as observers or dialogue partners.
The SCO is governed by the Heads of State Council (HSC), its supreme decision-making
body, which meets once a year. The organization also contains the so-called Regional
Antiterrorist Structure (RATS).
The 2022 SCO summit was the 22nd annual summit of heads of state of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization held between 15 and 16 September 2022 in Samarkand,
Uzbekistan. India hosted 23rd Summit on 5th July, 2023.

MEMBERS, OBSERVERS AND OTHER PARTICIPATIONS

Full members Observers Special members

China Afghanistan Armenia

India Belarus Azerbaijan
Kazakhstan Iran Cambodia
Kyrgyzstan Mongolia Nepal
Pakistan Sri Lanka Turkey
Russia Turkey Turkmenistan
Tajikistan
Uzbekistan
2. GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL

The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, also known as the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) is a regional, intergovernmental, political, and
economic union comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the
United Arab Emirates. The council's main headquarters is located in Riyadh, the
capital of Saudi Arabia. The Charter of the GCC was signed on 25 May 1981,
formally establishing the institution.

All current member states are monarchies, including three constitutional

monarchies (Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain), two absolute monarchies (Saudi Arabia
and Oman), and one federal monarchy (the United Arab Emirates, which is
composed of seven member states, each of which is an absolute monarchy with its
own emir). There have been discussions regarding the future membership of
Jordan, Morocco, and Yemen.

During the Arab Spring in 2012, Saudi Arabia proposed to transform the GCC into
a "Gulf Union" with tighter economic, political and military coordination, a move
considered to be intended to counterbalance Iranian influence in the region,
however objections were raised by other countries. In 2014, Bahraini Prime
Minister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa said that current events in the region
highlighted the importance of the proposal. The Peninsula Shield Force is the
military arm of the GCC, formed in 1984.

Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf

‫مجلس التعاون لدول خلیج العربیة‬

Flag

Logo
 Map indicating GCC members

Headquarters Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Official languages Arabic

Type Trade bloc

 Bahrain
Membership
 Kuwait
 Oman
 Qatar
 Saudi Arabia
 United Arab Emirates

3. UNITED NATIONS ORGANIZATION (UNO)

The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are
to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations,
achieve international cooperation, and serve as a centre for harmonizing the actions of
nations. It is the world's largest international organization. The UN is headquartered in
New York City (in the United States, but with certain extraterritorial privileges), and the
UN has other offices in Geneva, Nairobi, Vienna, and The Hague, where the International
Court of Justice is headquartered.

The UN was established after World War II with the aim of preventing future world wars,
and succeeded the League of Nations, which was characterized as ineffective. On 25
April 1945, 50 nations met in San Francisco, California for a conference and started
drafting the UN Charter, which was adopted on 25 June 1945. The charter took effect on
24 October 1945, when the UN began operations. The UN's objectives, as defined by its
charter, include maintaining international peace and security, protecting human rights,
delivering humanitarian aid, promoting sustainable development, and upholding
international law. At its founding, the UN had 51 member states; as of 2023, it has 193 –
almost all of the world's sovereign states.

The UN's mission to preserve world peace was complicated in its early decades due in
part to Cold War tensions that existed between the United States and Soviet Union and
their respective allies. Its mission has included the provision of primarily unarmed
military observers and lightly armed troops charged with primarily monitoring, reporting
and confidence-building roles. UN membership grew significantly following widespread
decolonization in the 1960s. Since then, 80 former colonies have gained independence,
including 11 trust territories that had been monitored by the Trusteeship Council. By the
1970s, the UN's budget for economic and social development programmes vastly
exceeded its spending on peacekeeping. After the end of the Cold War in 1991, the UN
shifted and expanded its field operations, undertaking a wide variety of complex tasks.

The UN has six principal operational organizations: the General Assembly, the Security
Council, the Economic and Social Council, the International Court of Justice, the UN
Secretariat, and the Trusteeship Council, although the Trusteeship Council has been
inactive since 1994. The UN System includes a multitude of specialized agencies, funds,
and programmes, including the World Bank Group, the World Health Organization, the
World Food Programme, UNESCO, and UNICEF. Additionally, non-governmental
organizations may be granted consultative status with the Economic and Social Council
and other agencies.
The UN's chief administrative officer is the secretary-general, currently Portuguese
politician and diplomat António Guterres, who began his first five year-term on 1 January
2017 and was re-elected on 8 June 2021. The organization is financed by assessed and
voluntary contributions from its member states.
The UN, its officers, and its agencies have won many Nobel Peace Prizes, though other
evaluations of its effectiveness have been mixed. Some commentators believe the
organization to be an important force for peace and human development, while others
have called it ineffective, biased, and corrupt.
 UNITED NATIONS

FLAG

EMBLEM

Headquarters 760 united nations plaza, manhattan, new york city, united states (international
zone)

Arabic
Official languages
Chinese
English
French
Russian
Spanish
Type Intergovernmental organization
Membership 193 member states
2 observer states
Leaders

• Secretary-General António guterres

• Deputy Secretary-General Amina j. Mohammed

• General Assembly President Dennis francis

• Economic and Social Council Paula narváez

President
• Security Council Presidency Ecuador (December 2023)

• UN Charter signed 26 june 1945 (78 years ago)

• Charter entered into force 24 october 1945 (78 years ago)
 MAIN BODIES OF UN
 General Assembly
 United Nations Security council UNSC
 Economic and Social Council
 Trustees council
 International Court of Justice
 Secretariat

4. EUROPEAN UNION (EU)

The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of 27

member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of
4,233,255 km2 (1,634,469 sq mi) and an estimated total population of over 448
million. The EU has often been described as a sui generis political entity (without
precedent or comparison) combining the characteristics of both a federation and a
confederation.

Containing 5.8% of the world population in 2020, the EU generated a nominal

gross domestic product (GDP) of around US$16.6 trillion in 2022, constituting
approximately one sixth of global nominal GDP and the third-biggest global
economy after the United States and China. Additionally, all EU states except
Bulgaria have a very high Human Development Index according to the United
Nations Development Program. Its cornerstone, the Customs Union, paved the
way to establishing an internal single market based on standardized legal
framework and legislation that applies in all member states in those matters, and
only those matters, where the states 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. Passport controls
have been abolished for travel within the Schengen Area. The Eurozone is a group
composed of the 20 EU member states that have fully implemented the economic
and monetary union and use the euro currency. Through the Common Foreign and
Security Policy, the union has developed a role in external relations and defense. It
maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the world and represents
itself at the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G7 and the G20.
 Due to its global influence, the European Union has been described by some
scholars as an emerging superpower.

The union was established along with its citizenship when the Maastricht Treaty
came into force in 1993, and was incorporated as an international legal juridical
person upon entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009. But its beginnings
may be traced to a group of founding states known as the Inner Six (Belgium,
France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany) at the start of
modern European integration in 1948, namely to the Western Union, the
International Authority for the Ruhr (IAR), the European Coal and Steel
Community (ECSC), the European Economic Community and the European
Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), established, respectively, by the 1948
Treaty of Brussels and London Six-Power Conference, the 1951 Treaty of Paris,
the 1957 Treaty of Rome and Euratom Treaty. These increasingly amalgamated
bodies have grown, with their legal successor the EU, both in size through
accessions of further 22 states from 1973–2013, and in power through acquisitions
of policy areas by the abovementioned treaties, as well as others, such as the
Single European Act, Treaty of Amsterdam and Treaty of Nice.

In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. After the creation by six
states, 22 other states joined the union. The United Kingdom became the only
member state to leave the EU in 2020; ten countries are aspiring or negotiating to
join it.

5. South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

(SAARC)

Background:
1. Formation:
 SAARC was established on December 8, 1985, in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
 The founding members are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India,
Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
2. Objectives:
 Promote economic and regional integration.
 Enhance collaboration in various sectors, including trade, agriculture,
technology, and culture.
 Strengthen cooperation for mutual benefit and regional stability.
Structure:
1. Summits:
  SAARC holds summits where member countries' leaders discuss and make
decisions on regional cooperation.
2. Secretariat:
 The SAARC Secretariat is based in Kathmandu, Nepal, and serves as the
organization's headquarters.
3. Regional Centers:
 SAARC has established various regional centers to address specific issues,
such as poverty alleviation, climate change, and human resources
development.
Key Areas of Cooperation:
1. Trade and Economy:
 Efforts to enhance intra-regional trade.
 Discussions on a South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA).
2. Social and Cultural Collaboration:
 Promoting cultural exchanges and people-to-people contacts.
 Joint initiatives in education, science, and technology.
3. Security Cooperation:
 Collaborative efforts to address regional security challenges.
 Regular consultations on issues of common concern.
4. Humanitarian and Environmental Initiatives:
 Cooperation on disaster management and relief efforts.
 Joint initiatives to address environmental challenges in the region.
Challenges:
1. Bilateral Disputes:
 Bilateral issues between member countries have at times hindered the
organization's effectiveness.
2. Security Concerns:
 The region faces security challenges, including terrorism and border
disputes.
3. Economic Disparities:
 Economic disparities among member countries can impact the pace of
regional integration.
Latest Developments
 SAARC Summits:
 The SAARC Summit scheduled for 2016 in Islamabad was postponed, and
subsequent summits faced challenges due to regional tensions.
Ghulam Sarwar is the current General Secretary of SAARC.
6. BRICS
 BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) is an association of major
emerging national economies. BRICS aims to promote cooperation and development
among its member countries.
Background:
 Formation: BRICS was originally known as "BRIC" before the inclusion of
South Africa in 2010. The member countries are seen as influential in their
respective regions and on the world stage.
Key Areas of Cooperation:
1. Economic Cooperation:
 Trade and investment facilitation among member countries.
 Promotion of economic growth and development.
2. Political Cooperation:
 Collaboration on political and security issues.
 Seeking common positions on global governance and international affairs.
3. Development Initiatives:
 Joint initiatives to address developmental challenges.
 Focus on inclusive and sustainable development..
 Climate Change:
 Collaborative efforts to address climate change and promote sustainable
practices
 15th BRICS Summit
The 2023 BRICS summit was the fifteenth annual BRICS summit, was held in
South Africa is an international relations conference attended by the heads of state
or heads of government of the five member states: Brazil, Russia, India, China,
and South Africa.
Several countries have expressed interest in joining the BRICS group. At the
summit, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that Argentina,
Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates have been
invited to join the bloc. Full membership will take effect on 1 January 2024