established 14 May 1955 to promote mutual defense; members met 1 July 1991 to dissolve the alliance; member states at the time of dissolution were: Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the USSR; earlier members included German Democratic Republic (GDR) and Albania

West African Development Bank (WADB)

note - also known as Banque Ouest-Africaine de Developpement (BOAD); is a financial institution of WAEMU established - 14 November 1973 aim - to promote regional economic development and integration regional members - (8) Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo

West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU)

note - also known as Union Economique et Monetaire Ouest Africaine (UEMOA) established - 1 August 1994 aim - to increase competitiveness of members' economic markets; to create a common market members - (8) Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo

Western European Union (WEU)

established 23 October 1954; effective - 6 May 1955; aim to provide mutual defense and to move toward political unification; 10 members: Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, UK; 6 associate members: Czech Republic, Hungary, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Turkey; 7 associate partners: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia; 5 observers: Austria, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Sweden; note - to cease existence completely by June 2011

World Bank Group

includes International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Development Association (IDA), International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)

World Confederation of Labor (WCL)