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Organisations
Asia-Pacific Economic Corporation (APEC)  Founded in 1989 as a manner of establishing economic growth in Asia, APEC has worked to decrease the trade barriers posed to this region of the world. In addition to increasing the volume of exports from this area via free trade agreements, APEC also encourages investments in the industrious locale to further the speed of production and promote the level of innovation available to the world. Reviewing APEC’s members makes clear the importance of this particular group --- the 22 countries under its guidance account for 41% of world trade, 50% of the global GDP, and over a third of the world’s population. In fact, the organisation has been so successful that many experts attribute APEC’s work to the highly efficient economy now enjoyed by Asian territories, which have been responsible for 70% of the world’s economic growth between 1999 and the date of the APEC’s founding.
Web Site: www.apecsec.org.sg
European Commission  Following the Second World War, momentum was such in Europe to create a unity that would prevent destruction similar to that of the recent past from happening again. When the then foreign minister of France, Robert Schuman, proposed the idea of a union between the territories of Europe on May 9, 1950, the idea was assimilated almost without opposition; today, more than 50 years later, much of Europe is standardized under a common currency and shares other peaceful agreements thanks to the European Union (EU). The European Commission --- the executive branch of the organisation --- is responsible for overseeing the key issues of member countries including the economic welfare of their people. With a high emphasis on order, education, and other crucial principles, the EU --- under the direction of the European Commission --- has risen many of its members to be dominating forces in the world market. Its longevity is almost assured and in 2004, it is anticipated that the group will experience its largest increase in national membership since its founding.
Web Site: europa.eu.org
International Monetary Fund (IMF)  Many consider that the Great Depression of the 1930s was incited due to a lack of government mechanisms to ensure economic continuity during market readjustments. Of course, the consequences were so profound that in a July 1944, a conference of 45 UN countries voted to build an economic infrastructure that would provide relief for sudden deviations in a country’s typical socioeconomic status. The resulting organisation --- the International Monetary Fund (IMF or simply the “Fund”) --- has since acquired a member base of 184 nations that collectively contribute several hundred billion dollars a year. The group meets once a year in conjunction with the World Bank and, based upon current economic trends, awards funding from the group’s available quota to areas in need.
Web Site: www.imf.org
Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)  When the world’s dependency upon oil resources became blatantly evident in 1960, five nations harboring a major portion of the globe’s supply (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela) joined together to create a trade union that would prevent the exploitation of oil in the marketplace by regulating permissible output production. Called “OPEC,” the group gradually gained authority upon the available supply of this commodity by exercising power over US and European oil companies which, until the first few years after OPEC’s founding, controlled the regional petroleum industry. Today, OPEC has an additional six member nations (Algeria, Indonesia, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates) and represents more than 40% of the global oil supply. The group meets twice a year (or when merited) and because of its recognized authority can now adjust a large portion of the oil supply in order to ensure the welfare of its nations.
Web Site: www.opec.org
The World Bank  Recognizing the distinct contrast between wealth and poverty in the modernizing world, the World Bank was formed in 1944 with support from the UN to help developing nations compete in the global marketplace. Every year, the group contributes billions of dollars to these regions which finance projects that aim to save the environment, decrease malnourishment, and promote prosperity at large through other mechanisms. Presently, 184 countries in the UN (the same member base as for the IMF) contribute the necessary resources to sustain these efforts which are executed by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Agency (IDA), the component groups that form the World Bank.
Web Site: www.worldbank.org
United Nations (UN)
 Of all diplomatic agencies formed over the years, none is as well-known as the United Nations (UN). A direct descendent of the League of Nations (convened in 1919 under the World War I Treaty of Versailles), the UN in its present form precipitated in 1945 when delegates from 50 countries journeyed to San Francisco to draft the charter that is used to this day. The present composition of the UN, however, is much different from that when the UN’s Charter was signed on October 24, 1945 --- the largest International group in the world, its 191 members represent almost all the countries of the globe. The UN is also the most powerful organisation in establishing policy worldwide, and meetings that occur at its New York-based headquarters can change the face of International politics in a very short amount of time. Thus it goes without saying that the UN has a high degree of power upon the economic and social welfare of nations, as well as being the “presidency” of diplomatic affairs; it continues to have a high degree of authority upon economic relationships among nations, and is therefore central to many of the topics in this site.
Web Site: www.un.org
World Trade Organisation (WTO)  While the UN has control over the relationships across International boundaries, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) governs trade rules among nations. Ultimately, the goal of this group is to ensure the relatively free flow of goods worldwide in order to incite global welfare. Based on a multilateral trading system (which manages agreements between nations regarding their trade policies), the WTO --- formed in 1995 --- largely resembles GATT, the status quo of the past, which was developed in the 1950s. Nonetheless, through careful negotiation on behalf of the WTO, trade totals in 2000 were 22 times what they were in the 1950s. But along with the potential for economic development comes the social obligation of the WTO. It is important for the group to have a broad understanding of goals among nations and be able to adjust the agreements it forges should any transaction potentially inflict substantial harm to any of its members.
Web Site: www.wto.org
Other Groups Several international establishments have been created throughout the world in order to account for the varied needs of different regions. In addition to the groups profiled earlier, these include the following (items in bold have been discussed earlier on this page):
Links & References
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