On this planet, there are somewhere around 200 different countries and country-like territories,
in each country there’s generally a distinct government, language, currency, immigration
and visa policy, passport, and everything.
In addition, if you have that country’s passport, then that means you are a citizen
of that country, which means that country’s government will allow you to stay, live, work,
and study in that country for however long you’d like, but try to get a job in another
country and even after converting currencies, plug types, address formats, and all that,
you will still need a special permit from the government of that country to actually
be allowed to remain and work there.
In addition, if a particular government wants to solve an issue affecting the world or region,
chances are they‘ll need a lot of help getting other governments to listen.
This however isn’t always the case, especially in the world’s multinational political and
economic unions, many of which I’ve already talked about here on the channel, so what
are these international unions and how many are there?
First we begin with probably the most well known multinational union, the European Union.
Comprising 27 countries on the continent of Europe, the European Union was established
as the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951 by 6 founding members in the wake of
the deadliest conflict in human history, gradually expanding and transforming from a mere economic
union to a full-on political union where member countries’ citizens can freely move to and
even seek work in any of the others without worrying about visas.
In this spirit, a somewhat radical concept was established in 1995 in the form of the
Schengen Area, a large bloc of 26 countries that have completely done away with any sort
of border control between them, and as such they have also adopted their own joint visa
policy (which in this situation really makes sense).
The EU is also famous for the Euro, a singular currency made to ease trade and symbolize
the connection between these countries, though it hasn’t always been met with flying economic
success in its early days.
On the fringes of the EU is the European Economic Area, basically a DLC to the EU which includes
Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, and means they’re kind of like EU members (mainly
in freedom of movement), but they don’t get a voice in parliament, though they don’t
have to follow all the laws said parliament passes.
These countries all also participate in Schengen, which is why the citizens’ line when going
through immigration at a Schengen airport reads “European Union/European Economic
Area/Confoederatio Helvetica”, which is to say Switzerland, since they also participate
in Schengen.
Though it is by far the most successful in achieving these kinds of goals amongst its
members (at least aside from unions that themselves became countries, I guess) the European Union
isn’t the only of these kinds of unions however, as one other notable continental
union immediately to the south is the African Union, formed only in 2002 and based in Addis
Ababa and Durban, South Africa, the African Union-- though it might not have yet achieved
as much as the European Union has in Europe-- does comprise a membership of every single
country in Africa (with Morocco finally joining in 2017, after disputes regarding the membership
of the Western Saharan Polisario Front, but that’s a story for a whole other time).
The goals of the African Union are-- among other things-- to achieve unity, territorial
integrity, and promote peace and stability among African nations, and promote and defend
African interests on the world stage.
One other goal is to establish an African Economic Community by 2023, with a singular
currency they’re thinking of calling the Afro (or maybe Afriq), and also an African
Central Bank by 2028.
Africa is currently home to numerous different economic unions, such as ECOWAS, ECCAS, and
several others, as well as many customs unions such as the South African Customs Union (by
the way, a customs union is essentially similar to what the Schengen Area is for immigration
in Europe, just for customs, so there aren’t any tariffs or restrictions for things traveling
between member nations).
In the north of Africa though, and throughout the Arab countries of the Middle East lies
the Arab League, a regional organization between Arabic governments founded in 1945 to promote
Arabic interests and mediate in disputes between members.
Of course within the Arab League there are also organizations such as the Gulf Cooperation
Council between Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar (though do note
there’s some drama going on with Qatar that we don’t have time for here).
The GCC is classified as a trade bloc, and also features things like freedom of movement,
allowing citizens of these countries to enter without a visa and even just with their national
ID card.
On the western side of the Arab League however is the Arab Maghreb Union, comprising Libya,
Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Mauritania, together forming the region known as the Maghreb,
from the Arabic term “al-maghrib (المغرب)” meaning “the west”.
The AMU is an organization created to establish economic ties and a common market between
the five countries, but which as been somewhat dormant as of late.
Going northeast, out of the 15 countries of the former Soviet Union, 9 of them are members
of the Commonwealth of Independent States (all except the Baltics, Ukraine and Georgia,
with Turkmenistan as a mere observer state).
The CIS is an intergovernmental organization meant to facilitate trade, cooperation, and
prevention of crime between these republics, established literally right after the breakup
of the Soviet Union.
The members of the CIS (minus Azerbaijan and plus Ukraine) are also part of the CIS Free
Trade Area, or CISFTA, simply a free trade area between these countries, and five of
said countries are also part of the Eurasian Economic Union, featuring a common market
among its member states.
Lastly in this group is the Union State of Russia and Belarus, which is basically an
agreement between the two countries to allow their citizens total freedom of movement across
that now porous 1,240 km border.
South America is also full of these such organizations, one of which is Mercosur, a trade bloc amongst
four South American countries, plus seven associated members.
I already made a whole video about Mercosur, and although its member states do allow citizens
of other members and associates to live and work in their countries after passing a background
check, the bloc only truly encompasses the eastern part of South America, for the western
part we also have the Andean Community, another trade bloc, this time between Colombia, Ecuador,
Peru and Bolivia, and with the goal of establishing a customs union between the four.
Also as you may know from my passports video, these countries also have a common passport
color scheme going on between them.
So that’s most of the multinational unions of this type out there, though not all, with
the noticeable exclusion of Caricom and ASEAN (as well as many others), all of whom I’ve
made videos about, so I’ll link those in the info cards if you want to learn more about
them.
In fact, there are easily enough of these unions to talk about that I might make a part
two about some of the lesser known unions, if this video does well enough (which judging
from the topic it probably will, but still).
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