International and Regional Security Organisations
This domain rewards precision about legal basis, membership and decision rules.
Universal
- The United Nations (1945, 193 members) rests on the Charter: Chapter VI pacific settlement, Chapter VII enforcement, Article 51 self-defence. The Security Council's five permanent members hold the veto; the G4 of Brazil, Germany, India and Japan seeks permanent seats.
- India is a founding member, has contributed more than a quarter of a million troops to over fifty missions beginning with Korea in 1950, and champions the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism and UNSC reform.
Collective defence vs collective security
NATO (Washington Treaty 1949, Article 5 invoked once after 9/11, 32 members after Sweden's 2024 accession) and the CSTO are alliances against a defined threat. Collective security, as in the League and the UN, defines threats collectively and applies to members and non-members alike.
Regional
ASEAN-centred architecture (ASEAN Regional Forum, ADMM-Plus, East Asia Summit), SAARC (1985, Dhaka), BIMSTEC (1997), SCO (India joined 2017), IORA, the QUAD, the African Union, GCC and ECOWAS. Chapter VIII of the Charter gives regional arrangements a role in peace and security.
Worked example
Why has SAARC underperformed? Consensus rules plus India-Pakistan hostility block decisions, whereas ASEAN's flexible, non-binding norms allow cooperation among rivals. The reasoning turns on decision rules and the presence of an unresolved bilateral dispute, not on membership size.
Traps
Calling the QUAD a military alliance; treating collective security and collective defence as synonyms; forgetting Chapter VIII; assuming India already holds a permanent UNSC seat.