"ABEDA Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa; established 1974; members - 18 Arab nations; promotes economic development "
"ACC Arab Cooperation Council; established 1989; members - Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Yemen; promotes Arab economic cooperation "
"ACP African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries; established 1976; members - 70 nations; preferential economics and aid relationship with the EU."
"ADB Asian Development Bank; established 1966; members - 36 Asian-Pacific nations, 16 non-regional members; encourages regional development"
"AfDB African Development Bank; established 1963; members - 50 African nations, 25 non-African nations; encourages African economic development"
"AFESD Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development; established 1968; members - 21 Arab nations; promotes social and economic development in the Arab world"
"AG Andean Group; established 1969; members - Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela (Panama is an associate member); promotes development through integration"
"AL Arab League; established 1945; members - 21 Arab nations; forum to promote Arabic cooperation on social, political and military issues "
"AMF Arab Monetary Fund; established 1976; members - 19 nations plus the PLO; promotes monetary and economic cooperation"
"AMU Arab Maghreb Union; established 1989; members - Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia; promotes integration and economic cooperation among North African Arab states"
"ANC African National Congress (originally the South African Native National Congress); established 1912; political movement whose primary aim was to establish black majority rule in South Africa. Now the largest party in the South African Parliament"
"ANZUS Australia-New Zealand- United States Security Treaty; established 1951; implements trilateral security agreement"
"APEC Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation; established 1989; members - 15 Pacific Rim nations; promotes regional cooperation"
"ASEAN Association of South East Asian Nations; established 1967; members - Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand; promotes economic, social and cultural cooperation in non-communist countries of Southeast Asia"
"BBC British Broadcasting Corporation; established 1922, given Royal Charter 1927; largest news broadcaster in the world. Renowned for its World Service broadcasts "
"BCCI Bank of Credit and Commerce International; established 1972; Luxembourg-based bank that collapsed in 1992"
"BCIE Central American Bank for Economic Integration; established 1960; members - Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua; promotes economic integration and development in Central America"
"BDEAC Central African States Development Bank; established 1975; members - Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, France, Gabon, Germany, Kuwait; furthers economic development "
"Benelux Benelux Economic Union; established 1958; members - Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands; develops economic ties between member nations"
"BSEC Black Sea Economic Cooperation Zone; established 1922; members - Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldavia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine; furthers regional stability through economic cooperation"
"CACM Central American Common Market; established 1960; members - Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua; furthers economic ties between members "
"CAEU Council of Arab Economic Unity; established 1957; members - 11 Arab nations plus the PLO; encourages economic integration"
"Caricom Caribbean Community and Common Market; established 1973; members - 13 Caribbean nations; fosters economic ties in the Caribbean"
"CBSS Council of the Baltic Sea States; established 1992; members - Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden; promotes cooperation among Baltic Sea states"
"CDB Caribbean Development Bank; established 1969; members - 20 Caribbean nations, 5 non-Caribbean nations; regional development "
"CE Council of Europe; established 1949; members - 29 European nations; promotes unity and quality of life in Europe"
"CEEAC Economic Community of Central African States; established 1983; members - 11 Central African nations; promotes regional cooperation and aims to establish Central African common market"
"CEI Central European Initiative; established 1991 (evolved from Hexagonal Group); members - Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Yugoslavia; promotes economic and political cooperation "
"CG Contadora Group - see RG"
"CIA Central Intelligence Agency; established 1944; Agency in USA responsible for external security "
"CILSS Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel; established 1973; members - Burkina, Cape Verde, Chad, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal; promotes prevention of drought and crop failure in Sahel region"
"CIS Commonwealth of Independent States; established 1991; members - Armenia, Belorussia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan; promotes interstate relationships"
"CNN Cable News Network; established 1980; worldwide satellite-broadcast 24-hour tv news channel"
"Comm Commonwealth (evolved from British Empire); established 1931; members - 48 nations; develops relationships and contacts between members"
"CP Colombo Plan; established 1951; members - 26 nations; encourages economic and social development in Asia- Pacific region"
"CSCE Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe; established 1972; members - 52 nations; organization that attempts to reduce tensions associated with the Cold War"
"EADB East African Development Bank; established 1967 members - Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda; encourages economic development"
"EBRD European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; established 1991; members - 58 nations; helps transition of former communist European states to market economies "
"EC European Community - see EU"
"ECA Economic Commission for Africa; established 1958; members - 52 nations; regional commission of UN's Economic and Social Council"
"ECE Economic Commission for Europe; established 1947; members - 44 nations; regional commission of UN's Economic and Social Council"
"ECLAC Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean; established 1948; members - 41 nations, including those from outside Latin America; regional commission of the UN's Economic and Social Council"
"ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States; established 1975; members - 17 nations; promotes closer regional economic cooperation"
"EEC European Economic Community - see EU"
"EFTA European Free Trade Association; established 1960; members - Austria, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland; promotes economic cooperation "
"ESCAP Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific; established 1947 (as Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East); members - 46 nations; regional commission of UN's Economic and Social
