Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries

OPEC

OPEC was established in 1960, and consists of the major oil nations in the world. Venezuela and Iran where the first nations to push for an organisation that could work together to boost revenues from a commodity that drives the economies of the world. 

This approach brought together Venezuela, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq,and Kuwait. This group was formed in 1949, and expanded with the admittance of Algeria, Ecuador, Gabon, Indonesia, Libya, Qatar, Nigeria, and the United Arab Emirates. 

However, Gabon withdrew in 1995, and Indonesia suspended its membership in 2009 as it became a net importer of oil. However, Indonesia has said that if this position be reversed, through better production, or more oil being discovered, it would return.

The impetus for forming this group was a law enacted in the US in 1960 which saw preferential deals granted to oil from Canada and Mexico, with the US citing ease of access to land-based oil in times of crisis. This led to plummeting prices for the other nations, and a push for those nations to work together to push prices back up.

OPEC has flexed its muscles before now, when the Arab-Israeli War drew a response, with the 1973 oil embargo. This led to oil supplies to the US and western Europe being halted, causing oil to rocket in price, and major damage being done to those economies.

OPEC, however, has not seen complete unity all the time. The Iran-Iraq war saw the organisation being divided into two camps, and currently, it is split between hawkish nations such as Venezuela, and Iran, and softer nations such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The hawks want to push prices up as high as they can, whilst the likes of Saudi Arabia believe that if prices of oil rise too far, then economic damage will be done to importing economies, as well as forcing those economies to engage in efficiency drives, and investment in alternate energy supplies which will ultimately cause the price of oil to drop as well as drastically cutting revenues to OPEC nations. Saudi Arabia, as the largest OPEC nation, has regularly ignored quota's, and kept its production high to keep the markets happy. 

OPEC is no longer as influential as it used to be, with a lot of oil coming from non-OPEC sources, with Britain and Norway being net exporters of oil in Europe digging oil from the North Sea, Russia developing large reserves, along with many of the post-Soviet states, huge reserves being discovered in the Gulf of Mexico as well as Alaska. And Canada's oil sands covering an area bigger than England.

However, OPEC still accounts for roughly 65% of the worlds oil supply, giving it huge influence in the world market.

The flag of OPEC consists of 4 white discs on a light blue arranged to spell out the 4 letters of the organisation, with the stoke of the "P" running through the logo to resemble an oil drill.

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Member States

Angola                   Algeria

Ecuador             Iran

Iraq                       Kuwait

Libya                     Nigeria

Qatar                 Saudi Arabia

UAE                  Venezuela

Indonesia (suspended 2009)

The Organisation of American States

The Flag of The OAS

The Organisation of American States was formed in 1889, when the First International Conference of American States gathered in Washington, and the 18 nations united to create the International Union of American Republics. And later, in 1910, it became the Pan American Union. 

The Second World War showed to many states that "going it alone" was unlikely to guarantee their defence, so, at the 9th International Conference, The Charter for the Organisation of American States was signed in 1947. This was set up to help with collective defence, and the fighting of Communism in the America's. The Organisation super-ceded the Pan American Union formally in 1951.

Slowly through the 60's, the Organisation expanded as nations gained their independence, and joined the OAS, though Cuba was excluded. One part of the OAS' charter is to combat Communism, and Cuba being Communist was felt to be against the charter, so was booted out. However, in 2009, with an apparent softening of the Cuban regime, the exclusion of Cuba was lifted. However, in order to be re-admitted, it needs to ratify all OAS treaties.

The OAS was set up to help with various issues.

• To strengthen peace and security on the continent
• To promote and consolidate the principles of democracy
• To try to prevent causes of conflict, and to try to bring about resolutions through peaceful means
• To present a common front should a member suffer from aggression 
• To seek the solution of any judicial, political, and and economic issues that may arise amongst members
• To promote economic, social, and cultural development through co-operative action
• To eliminate poverty
• To limit conventional weapons

Recently, the OAS has been active in promoting democracy in many states, as well as engaging in land-mine clearance projects, and trying to settle several border disputes, including Belize and Guatemala, as well as between Peru and Ecuador. Most notably, the OAS has been active in trying to solve the crisis in Honduras, due to the ouster of Manuel Zelaya after he indicated an interest in a referendum to remove the 1 term limit on the President. Honduras fell under heavy diplomatic pressure, and was suspended from the OAS.

The flag of the OAS, adopted early on in the organisations birth, is a simple blue field, with a gold-edged white disc in the centre. In the disc are a collection of flags arranged in two hemispheres. These flags are the flags of each member nation. so, as the organisation expanded, the number of flags increased.

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Member States

Antigua & Barbuda     Argentina

The Bahamas          Bolivia

Belize                          Brazil

Barbados                    Canada

Chile                           Colombia

Costa Rica                Cuba

Dominica                Dominican Republic

Ecuador                  El Salvador

Grenada                    Guatemala

Guyana                      Haiti

Honduras               Jamaica

Mexico                     Nicaragua

Panama                      Paraguay

Peru                           St Kitts & Nevis

St Lucia                  Suriname

St Vincent & The Grenadines

Trinidad & Tobago    USA

Uruguay                      Venezuela