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An 'international organization' is by definition any organization with international membership, scope or presence, however, in common usage, it is a term commonly reserved for intergovernmental organizations (IGO) such as the United Nations, the European Community or the World Trade Organization, with sovereign states or other IGOs as members.Their scope and aims are most usually in the public interest but may also have been created with an specific purpose.
While many non-governmental organizations (NGOs), a generalizing term used for privately created organizations with international in scope, certainly have international presence and aims, it is in the sense of IGOs that the term "International Organization" is used in the remainder of this article.

Contents

Legal nature

Membership and function

Historical Development of International Organizations

Purpose of International organizations

Examples of organizations

Global organizations

Regional organizations

Organizations with various membership criteria

Financial international organizations

See also

Further reading

Legal nature

Legally speaking, an international organization may be established by a constituent document such as a charter, a treaty or a Convention, which when signed by the founding members, provides the IGO with legal recognition. International organizations so established are subjects of international law, capable of entering into agreements among themselves or with states. Thus international organizations in a legal sense are distinguished from mere groupings of states, such as the G-8 and the G-77, neither of which have been founded by a constituent document and exist only as task groups, though in non-legal contexts these are sometimes referred erroneously as international organizations.
International organizations must also be distinguished from treaties. Many treaties (e.g., the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or, in the 1947-1995 period, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)) do not establish an international organization and rely purely on the parties for their administration becoming legally recognized as an ''ad hoc'' commission.

Membership and function

International organizations differ in function, membership and membership criteria. Membership of some organisations (global organizations) is open to all the nations of the world as far as they comply with membership criteria and after approval by a general assembly or similar body. This category includes the United Nations and its specialized agencies and the World Trade Organization. Other organizations are only open to members from a particular region or continent of the world, like European Union, African Union, ASEAN and other regional organizations.
Finally, some organizations base their membership on other criteria: 'cultural or historical links' (the Commonwealth of Nations, La Francophonie, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, the Latin Union), level of 'economic' development or type of economy (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Organization of Petroleum-Exporting Countries (OPEC), or 'religion' (Organization of the Islamic Conference).
The Union of International Associations provides ancillary information on international organizations.

Historical Development of International Organizations

International organizations developed mainly from the need of nations and governments to have a neutral forum where to debate and consider matters of importance to more than one particular nation. However, some IOs also developed from the need of an either executive or enforcement body which could carry on multinational interests in an unified form.
In the nineteenth century, France showed interest in the creation of many international organizations (such as those which maintain the ''Système international d'unités'' (metric system)). Thus many organizations are headquaretered in France, often in Paris.

Purpose of International organizations

International organizations describe and define their purpose in their charter or other document of creation. International Organizations exist with diverse aims, including but not limited to increase international relations, promote education, health care, economic development, environmental protection, human rights, humanitarian efforts, inter-cultural approach and conflict resolution.

Examples of organizations

Global organizations

★ United Nations, its , and associated organizations

★ WOSM, The World Organisation of the Scout Movement, the largest Youth organisation in the world

★ Organization of the Islamic Conference, the second largest international organization

★ International Hydrographic Organization

★ International Seabed Authority

★ Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

★ World Trade Organization

★ INTERPOL

Regional organizations

'Europe':

★ European Union (EU)

★ Council of Europe (COE)

★ Economic Commission for Europe (ECE)

★ European Free Trade Association (EFTA)

★ European Space Agency (ESA)

★ European Patent Organisation (EPO)
'Asia':

★ Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD)

★ Asian Development Bank (ADB)

★ East Asian Summit (EAS)

★ Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

★ South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)

★ Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO)

★ Gulf Cooperation Council

★ Colombo Plan
'Eurasia':

★ Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)

★ Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)

★ Eurasian Economic Community

★ Central Asian Cooperation Organization

★ TRACECA

★ GUAM

★ Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC)
'Africa':

★ African Union

★ Conseil de l'Entente

★ Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

★ West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA)

★ Southern African Development Community (SADC)

★ Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)

★ Arab Maghreb Union
'Western Hemisphere':

★ Organization of American States (OAS)

★ Union of South American Nations

★ Mercosur

★ Andean Community

★ Caribbean Community (CARICOM)

★ Association of Caribbean States (ACS)

★ Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)

★ Central American Parliament

★ Rio Group

★ Cooperation System of the American Air Forces(SICOFAA)
'Trans-atlantic':

★ North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)

★ Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
'Arctic Ocean':

★ Arctic Council
'Indian Ocean':

★ Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC)

★ Indian Ocean Commission (IOC)
'Pacific':

★ ANZUS

★ Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

★ Pacific Islands Forum

★ Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP)

★ Secretariat of the Pacific Community

Organizations with various membership criteria

★ Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

★ Organization of Petroleum-Exporting Countries (OPEC)

★ Commonwealth of Nations

★ La Francophonie

★ Comunidade dos países de língua portuguesa (CPLP)

★ Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI)

★ Unión Latina

★ Non-Aligned Movement

★ Arab League

★ Organization of the Islamic Conference

★ Advisory Centre on WTO Law

★ International Parliament for Safety and Peace (IPSP)

Financial international organizations

★ Bank for International Settlements

★ International Monetary Fund (IMF)

★ World Bank Group

See also

★ List of organizations

★ List of international organizations

★ Supranationalism

★ Supranational aspects of international organizations

★ Supranational union

★ World government

★ Intergovernmentalism

★ International decoration

★ Environmental organizations

★ Trade bloc

★ Organizations with .INT domain names

★ List of international trade topics

★ Energie-Cités

★ Multilateral Development Bank

Further reading

★ Claude, I.L. (1959). ''Swords into Plowshares: The problems and progress of international organization''. New York: Random House.