Karen_A._Mingst,_Ivan_M._Arregu_n-Toft]_Essentia

be instructed by it or by the General Assembly (see Table  7.4). Included under the
specialized agencies are the Bretton Woods institutions— the International Monetary
Fund and the World Bank— examined in Chapter 9.
The United Nations is not the only impor tant IGO, of course, and numerous other
intergovernmental organ izations are not affiliated with the United Nations, including
the World Trade Or ga ni za tion (Chapter  9) and the Arctic Council (see Behind the
Headlines, p. 230–31). These IGOs perform critical functions arising from the need
to take on new tasks. And they, like the plethora of regional and subregional organ­
izations, are always changing.

the eu ro pean Union—organ izing regionally

Regional organ izations also play an increasingly vis i ble role in international relations.
But none has been as vis i ble, as strong, or as copied as the Eu ro pean Union (EU).

RepResentative inteRnational and

Regional oRgan izations

UN Specialized ageNcieS iN de peN deNt OrgaN izatiONS

World Health Or ga ni za tion Exporting CountriesOr^ ga^ ni^ za^ tion of the Petroleum

Food and Agriculture Or ga ni za tion World Trade Or ga ni za tion

International Labour Or ga ni za tion Organisation of Islamic Cooperation

International Atomic Energy Agency North Atlantic Treaty Or ga ni za tion

World Bank Group Arctic Council

r egiONal OrgaN izatiONS SUbregiONal OrgaN izatiONS

Eu ro pean Union Eu ro pean Free Trade Association

African Union Economic Community of West African States

Or ga ni za tion of American States Mercosur

League of Arab States Gulf Cooperation Council

t able 7.4

228 CHAPTER SEvEN ■ igo s, inteRnational law, and ngos