established - May 1950 proposal was adopted; 1 July 1951 commenced full operations aim - to promote economic and social development in Asia and the Pacific members - (26) Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Burma, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, NZ, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, US, Vietnam
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
note - formerly known as Preferential Trade Area for Eastern and Southern Africa (PTA) established - treaty signed 5 November 1993; treaty ratified 8 December 1994 aim - recognizing, promoting and protecting fundamental human rights, commitment to the principles of liberty and rule of law, maintaining peace and stability through the promotion and strengthening of good neighborliness, commitment to peaceful settlement of disputes among member states members - (19) Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Commonwealth (C)
note - also known as Commonwealth of Nations established - 31 December 1931 aim - to foster multinational cooperation and assistance, as a voluntary association that evolved from the British Empire members - (54) Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Brunei, Cameroon, Canada, Cyprus, Dominica, Fiji (suspended), The Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, NZ, Nigeria, Pakistan (reinstated 2004), Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, UK, Vanuatu, Zambia; note - on 7 December 2003 Zimbabwe withdrew its membership from the Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
established - 8 December 1991; effective - 21 December 1991 aim - to coordinate intercommonwealth relations and to provide a mechanism for the orderly dissolution of the USSR members - (9) Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan; note - neither Ukraine as a participating member nor Turkmenistan as an associate member have signed the 1993 CIS charter, although both participate in meetings; Georgia left the organization in August 2009
Communist countries
traditionally the Marxist-Leninist states with authoritarian governments and command economies based on the Soviet model; most of the original and the successor states are no longer Communist; see centrally planned economies
Community of Democracies (CD)