Countries which lie in geographical proximity create or join regional organisations which are based on common political, ideological, economic and infrastructural concerns. Some nations make special agreements regarding trade and economic cooperation. This is called a trade bloc.

(i) European Union (EU) was created in 1992 by Maastricht Treaty. It led to increased spheres of cooperation between European nations e.g. foreign affairs, defense, trade and creation of Euro as a common currency. Creation of Schengen Area is one of the achievements of the EU since the Schengen visa allows eligible individuals to travel freely within the 26 nations of the Schengen area.

(ii) ASEAN created in 1967 with headquarters at Jakarta comprises of 10 South-East Asian nations such as Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, etc. It aims to promote political economic and security cooperation among it’s members.

(iii) SAARC formed in 1985 at Dhaka with 7 members. Today, it has 8 member countries of South Asia like India, Bhutan, Pakistan, etc. It aims to promote regional integration and economic development. It’s main achievement is the SAFTA.

(iv) BIMSTEC – is a regional organisation founded in 1997 comprising of 7 member countries lying around Bay of Bengal for e.g. Bangladesh, India, Thailand, Myanmar. It aims to facilitate collaboration in economic, security and other concerns between member States.

(v) Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is an Eurasian political, economic and security organisation formed in 2001 with 6 member states. In 2016, India and Pakistan joined SCO. It’s focus is on maintaining peace and stability in the region, cooperation in trade, technology, etc.

Regional organisations play an important role in international politics. Due to this, unipolarity (US as the only superpower) ended leading to multipolarity.