ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the interface between regional organizations and global security governance. After a brief discussion of key concepts, it provides a short history of regional organizations, noting the bifurcation of regional security organizations: those whose primary aim is collective defense and those focusing instead on collective security at the regional level. It then goes on to consideration of the evolution of regional organizations in the provision of global security during the post-Cold War era. Several key points emerge: the great diversity in this group, the evolution of their mandates, and the often ambiguous nature of their relation to the United Nations, and the interweaving of global security concerns with regional issues often reflecting the political interests of key regional states. In terms of the collective defense/collective security dichotomy, as a result of the increasing dissonance in the Security Council, coupled with the war in Ukraine, the balance may be shifting back towards collective defense.
