The world's alliances

Countries join alliances to defend each other, to trade more freely or to have a bigger say. In NATO, an armed attack on one member counts as an attack on all. The European Union has its own laws, courts and parliament. BRICS, the G7 and the G20 are looser clubs whose leaders meet once a year.

Updated October 2026 · Members from each organization's own list

Military alliance NATO 32 members · since 1949 32 countries in Europe and North America. An attack on one counts as an attack on all.

Union of neighbors European Union 27 members · since 1993 Shared laws, one market and, for 21 members, the euro. Nine countries want to join.

Economic club G7 7 members · since 1975 Seven rich democracies with 45% of the world's economy. Russia was in it from 1998 to 2014.

Economic club G20 21 members · since 1999 19 big economies, the EU and the African Union, with 78% of the world's economy.

Economic club BRICS 10 members · since 2009 Ten emerging economies with 48% of the world's people. Ten more are partners.

Security club SCO 10 members · since 2001 China, Russia, India and seven more, with 42% of the world's people. No promise to defend each other.

Union of neighbors African Union 55 members · since 2002 Every African state, 55 in all. Six are suspended after coups.

Union of neighbors ASEAN 11 members · since 1967 Eleven Southeast Asian countries. Timor-Leste joined in 2025.

Union of neighbors GCC 6 members · since 1981 Six Gulf monarchies with a fifth of the world's oil. Iran struck all six in 2026.

Economic club OPEC 11 members · since 1960 Eleven oil exporters that set output together. The UAE left in May 2026.

Military alliance CSTO 6 members · since 1992 Russia and five former Soviet republics. Armenia froze its part in 2024.

Security dialogue Quad 4 members · since 2007 The United States, Japan, India and Australia. No treaty, and no leaders' summit since 2024.

Security pact AUKUS 3 members · since 2021 Nuclear-powered submarines for Australia, with Britain and the United States. No mutual-defense promise.

Defense pact Mecca pact 3 members · since 2026 Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, since August 2026. An attack on one counts as an attack on all.

Member
Partner
Wants to join
Left

Which alliances is each country in?

Most large countries belong to several. Turkey is the only country that is in NATO, wants to join the EU and has applied to BRICS.

Country	NATO	EU	G7	G20	BRICS	SCO	OPEC	Also in
United States	Member		Member	Member				Quad, AUKUS
China				Member	Member	Member
India				Member	Member	Member		Quad
Russia			Out 2014	Member	Member	Member	OPEC+	CSTO
Japan			Member	Member				Quad
Germany	Member	Member	Member	Member
United Kingdom	Member	Left 2020	Member	Member				AUKUS
France	Member	Member	Member	Member
Brazil				Member	Member
Turkey	Member	Candidate		Member	Applied	Dialogue partner		Mecca pact
Saudi Arabia				Member	Invited	Dialogue partner	Member	GCC, Mecca pact
Indonesia				Member	Member		Suspended	ASEAN
Iran					Member	Member	Member
Ukraine	Applied	Candidate
Pakistan					Applied	Member		Mecca pact
Australia				Member				Quad, AUKUS
Afghanistan						Observer
Albania	Member	Candidate
Algeria							Member	African Union
Andorra
Angola							Left 2024	African Union
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina				Member
Armenia						Dialogue partner		CSTO
Austria		Member
Azerbaijan					Applied	Dialogue partner	OPEC+
Bahamas
Bahrain						Dialogue partner	OPEC+	GCC
Bangladesh					Applied
Barbados
Belarus					Partner	Member		CSTO
Belgium	Member	Member
Belize
Benin								African Union
Bhutan
Bolivia					Partner
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Wants to join	Candidate
Botswana								African Union
Brunei							OPEC+	ASEAN
Bulgaria	Member	Member
Burkina Faso								African Union
Burundi								African Union
Cambodia						Dialogue partner		ASEAN
Cameroon								African Union
Canada	Member		Member	Member
Cape Verde								African Union
Central African Republic								African Union
Chad								African Union
Chile
Colombia
Comoros								African Union
Costa Rica
Côte d'Ivoire								African Union
Croatia	Member	Member
Cuba					Partner
Cyprus		Member
Czechia	Member	Member
Denmark	Member	Member
Djibouti								African Union
Dominica
Dominican Republic
DR Congo								African Union
Ecuador							Left 2020
Egypt					Member	Dialogue partner		African Union
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea							Member	African Union
Eritrea								African Union
Estonia	Member	Member
Eswatini								African Union
Ethiopia					Member			African Union
Fiji
Finland	Member	Member
Gabon							Member	African Union
Gambia								African Union
Georgia	Wants to join	Candidate
Ghana								African Union
Greece	Member	Member
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea								African Union
Guinea-Bissau								African Union
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Hungary	Member	Member
Iceland	Member
Iraq							Member
Ireland		Member
Israel
Italy	Member	Member	Member	Member
Jamaica
Jordan
Kazakhstan					Partner	Member	OPEC+	CSTO
Kenya								African Union
Kiribati
Kosovo		Applied
Kuwait						Dialogue partner	Member	GCC
Kyrgyzstan						Member		CSTO
Laos						Dialogue partner		ASEAN
Latvia	Member	Member
Lebanon
Lesotho								African Union
Liberia								African Union
Libya							Member	African Union
Liechtenstein
Lithuania	Member	Member
Luxembourg	Member	Member
Madagascar								African Union
Malawi								African Union
Malaysia					Partner		OPEC+	ASEAN
Maldives						Dialogue partner
Mali								African Union
Malta		Member
Marshall Islands
Mauritania								African Union
Mauritius								African Union
Mexico				Member			OPEC+
Micronesia
Moldova		Candidate
Monaco
Mongolia						Observer
Montenegro	Member	Candidate
Morocco								African Union
Mozambique								African Union
Myanmar						Dialogue partner		ASEAN
Namibia								African Union
Nauru
Nepal						Dialogue partner
Netherlands	Member	Member
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger								African Union
Nigeria					Partner		Member	African Union
North Korea
North Macedonia	Member	Candidate
Norway	Member
Oman							OPEC+	GCC
Palau
Palestine
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines								ASEAN
Poland	Member	Member		Wants to join
Portugal	Member	Member
Qatar						Dialogue partner	Left 2019	GCC
Republic of the Congo							Member	African Union
Romania	Member	Member
Rwanda								African Union
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
São Tomé and Príncipe								African Union
Senegal								African Union
Serbia		Candidate
Seychelles								African Union
Sierra Leone								African Union
Singapore								ASEAN
Slovakia	Member	Member
Slovenia	Member	Member
Solomon Islands
Somalia								African Union
South Africa				Barred in 2026	Member			African Union
South Korea				Member
South Sudan							OPEC+	African Union
Spain	Member	Member		Permanent guest
Sri Lanka					Applied	Dialogue partner
Sudan							OPEC+	African Union
Suriname
Sweden	Member	Member
Switzerland
Syria
Taiwan
Tajikistan						Member		CSTO
Tanzania								African Union
Thailand					Partner			ASEAN
Timor-Leste								ASEAN
Togo								African Union
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia								African Union
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu
Uganda					Partner			African Union
United Arab Emirates					Member	Dialogue partner	Left 2026	GCC
Uruguay
Uzbekistan					Partner	Member
Vanuatu
Vatican City
Venezuela							Member
Vietnam					Partner			ASEAN
Yemen
Zambia								African Union
Zimbabwe								African Union

Member
Wants to join
Partner
Left or suspended

Members as of October 2026. The G20 also includes the European Union and the African Union.

Which alliance is the biggest?

It depends on what you count. The 19 countries of the G20 have 58% of the world's people and 78% of its economy. NATO has only 12% of the people but 50% of the economy.

BRICS is the reverse. Its members have 48% of the world's people but 27% of its economy. The African Union has 19% of the people and 2.7% of the economy.

Share of the world, 2025

People
Economy

G2058%78%
NATO12%50%
G79.6%45%
BRICS48%27%
SCO42%23%
European Union5.5%18%
ASEAN8.5%3.6%
African Union19%2.7%
OPEC6.2%2.4%

People: UN World Population Prospects. Economy: GDP at market exchange rates, IMF. The G20 counts its 19 member countries only.