nt in Asia and the Pacific

members - (24) Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma,
Cambodia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Laos,
Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, NZ, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines,
Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, US

provisional member - (1) Mongolia

** Commonwealth (C) **

note - also known as Commonwealth of Nations

established - 31 December 1931

aim - to foster multinational cooperation and assistance, as a voluntary
association that evolved from the British Empire

members - (54) Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Bangladesh,
Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Brunei, Cameroon, Canada, Cyprus, Dominica,
Fiji, The Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati,
Lesotho, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Mozambique,
Namibia, Nauru, NZ, Nigeria, Pakistan (suspended), Papua New Guinea,
Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,
Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South
Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago,
Tuvalu, Uganda, UK, Vanuatu, Zambia, Zimbabwe (suspended)

** Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) **

established - 8 December 1991; effective - 21 December 1991

aim - to coordinate intercommonwealth relations and to provide a mechanism
for the orderly dissolution of the USSR

members - (12) Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan

** communist countries **

traditionally the Marxist-Leninist states with authoritarian governments
and command economies based on the Soviet model; most of the original
and the successor states are no longer communist; see centrally planned
economies

** Coordinating Committee on Export Controls (COCOM) **

established in 1949 to control the export of strategic products and
technical data from member countries to proscribed destinations; members
were Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy,
Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, UK, US;
abolished 31 March 1994; COCOM members established a new organization,
the Wassenaar Arrangement, with expanded membership on 12 July 1996
which focuses on nonproliferation export controls as opposed to East-West
control of advanced technology

** Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CEMA) **

note - als