This is the list of military alliances. A military alliance is a formal agreement between two or more parties concerning national security in which the contracting parties agree to mutual protection and support in case of a crisis that has not been identified in advance. Military alliances differ from coalitions, which are formed for a crisis that already exists. Numerous forms of military and defensive alliances have existed between states since early human history. This is a comprehensive list of the most important alliances.
Legend | |
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Active military alliances |
Years | Name | Members |
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c. 7th century–338 BC | Latin League | About 30 villages and tribes in the region of Latium |
c. 6th century–338 BC | Peloponnesian League | Various city-states in the Peloponnese, dominated by Sparta |
493 BC | Foedus Cassianum | Roman Republic Latin League |
478–404 BC | Delian League | See Members of the Delian League |
215 BC | Macedonian–Carthaginian Treaty | Macedonia Carthage |
433–554 | Silla-Baekje Alliance | ![]() ![]() |
1123 | Pactum Warmundi | ![]() ![]() |
1167–1250 | Lombard League | Numerous cities in medieval Lombardy, modern Northern Italy |
Name and description | Countries |
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CANZUK is a proposed alliance between four Commonwealth realms. | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
France–Japan Reciprocal Access Agreement is currently being negotiated to finalize a formal alliance between Japan and France. [88] | ![]() ![]() |
EU–UK Mutual Defence Agreement is a proposal, most notably from the Labour Party, to sign a formal alliance between the EU and the UK. [89] | ![]() ![]() |
Japan–Philippines Reciprocal Access Agreement was negotiated due to rising political tensions in the Pacific. [90] [91] Ratification by both countries' legislatures pending. [92] | ![]() ![]() |
South Korea–Japan Defense Pact [93] is a proposed alliance between South Korea and Japan in response to increased aggression from North Korea. | ![]() ![]() |
Japan–Philippines–United States trilateral alliance is currently being negotiated in response to increased military build-up by China. [94] | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
France–Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement is being negotiated. [95] | ![]() ![]() |
Arab-Israeli alliance refers to an unofficial security coalition comprising Israel and various Arab countries. | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Saudi-US Security Pact is a long proposed official deal to deepen security relations, gaining momentum under the Biden administration. [96] | ![]() ![]() |
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance of 32 member states—30 European and 2 North American. Established in the aftermath of World War II, the organization implements the North Atlantic Treaty, signed in Washington, D.C., on 4 April 1949. NATO is a collective security system: its independent member states agree to defend each other against attacks by third parties. During the Cold War, NATO operated as a check on the threat posed by the Soviet Union. The alliance remained in place after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, and has been involved in military operations in the Balkans, the Middle East, South Asia and Africa. The organization's motto is animus in consulendo liber. The organization's strategic concepts include deterrence.
The North Atlantic Treaty forms the legal basis of, and is implemented by, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The treaty was signed in Washington, D.C., on 4 April 1949.
Ukraine has formal relations with many nations and in recent decades has been establishing diplomatic relations with an expanding circle of nations. The foreign relations of Ukraine are guided by a number of key priorities outlined in the foreign policy of Ukraine.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is an intergovernmental military alliance in Eurasia consisting of six post-Soviet states: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan, formed in 2002. The Collective Security Treaty has its origins in the Soviet Armed Forces, which was replaced in 1992 by the United Armed Forces of the Commonwealth of Independent States, and was then itself replaced by the successor armed forces of the respective independent states.
A major non-NATO ally (MNNA) is a designation given by the United States government to countries that have strategic working relationships with the U.S. Armed Forces while not being members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). While the status does not automatically constitute a mutual defense pact with the United States, it does confer a variety of military and financial advantages that are otherwise unobtainable by non-NATO countries. There are currently 20 major non-NATO allies across four continents: 11 in Asia, 4 in Africa, 3 in South America, and 2 in Oceania.
Brazil–Russia relations have seen significant improvement in recent years, characterized by increased commercial trades and cooperation in military and technology segments. The two countries maintain important partnerships in areas such as space, military technologies, and telecommunications.
North Korea–Russia relations are the bilateral relations between Russia and North Korea. The Soviet Union was the first to recognize North Korea on October 12, 1948, shortly after the proclamation, as the sole legitimate authority in all of Korea. The Soviet Union supported North Korea during the Korean War. North Korea was founded as part of the Communist bloc, and received major Soviet military and political support. The comprehensive personality cult around North Korea's ruling family was heavily influenced by Stalinism. China and the Soviet Union competed for influence in North Korea during the Sino-Soviet split in the 1960s, as North Korea tried to maintain good relations with both countries.
Diplomatic relations exist between Australia and France, as well as the historical contacts, shared values of democracy and human rights, substantial commercial links, and a keen interest in each other's culture.
Relations between Ukraine and the United Kingdom have existed in one form or another since Ukrainian independence in 1991. The two countries have ties across political, military, social and economic spheres. The UK hosts up to 200,000 Ukrainian refugees giving it the sixth largest Ukrainian migrant population in Europe.
The Republic of India recognised Ukraine as a sovereign country in December 1991 following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and established diplomatic relations in January 1992. The Indian Embassy in Kyiv was opened in May 1992 and Ukraine opened its Mission in New Delhi in February 1993. The Consulate General of India in Odesa functioned from 1962 until its closure in March 1999.
NATO is a military alliance of thirty-two European and North American countries that constitutes a system of collective defense. The process of joining the alliance is governed by Article 10 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which allows for the invitation of "other European States" only and by subsequent agreements. Countries wishing to join must meet certain requirements and complete a multi-step process involving political dialogue and military integration. The accession process is overseen by the North Atlantic Council, NATO's governing body. NATO was formed in 1949 with twelve founding members and has added new members ten times. The first additions were Greece and Turkey in 1952. In May 1955, West Germany joined NATO, which was one of the conditions agreed to as part of the end of the country's occupation by France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, prompting the Soviet Union to form its own collective security alliance later that month. Following the end of the Franco regime, newly democratic Spain chose to join NATO in 1982.
NATO is an international military alliance consisting of 32 member states from Europe and North America. It was established at the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949. Article 5 of the treaty states that if an armed attack occurs against one of the member states, it shall be considered an attack against all members, and other members shall assist the attacked member, with armed forces if necessary. Article 6 of the treaty limits the scope of Article 5 to the islands north of the Tropic of Cancer, the North American and European mainlands, the entirety of Turkey, and French Algeria, the last of which has been moot since July 1962. Thus, an attack on Hawaii, Puerto Rico, French Guiana, the Falkland Islands, Ceuta or Melilla, among other places, would not trigger an Article 5 response.
Relations between the NATO military alliance and the Russian Federation were established in 1991 within the framework of the North Atlantic Cooperation Council. In 1994, Russia joined the Partnership for Peace program, and on 27 May 1997, the NATO–Russia Founding Act (NRFA) was signed at the 1997 Paris NATO Summit in France, enabling the creation of the NATO–Russia Permanent Joint Council (NRPJC). Through the early part of 2010s NATO and Russia signed several additional agreements on cooperation. The NRPJC was replaced in 2002 by the NATO-Russia Council (NRC), which was established in an effort to partner on security issues and joint projects together.
Before 1918, both Finland and Ukraine were part of the Russian Empire. In 1918, Finland was one of the first countries to recognise Ukraine and open a diplomatic mission in Kyiv. Finland once again recognised Ukraine on December 30, 1991. Both countries established diplomatic relations on February 26, 1992. Finland is a member of the European Union, which Ukraine applied for in 2022. Both countries are full members of Council of Europe. Also Finland is an EU member and Ukraine is an EU candidate.
Lithuania–Ukraine relations are foreign relations between Lithuania and Ukraine. Both countries are members of the Lublin Triangle, OSCE, Council of Europe, World Trade Organization and United Nations. Lithuania supports Ukraine's European Union and NATO membership. Lithuania has an embassy in Kyiv and Ukraine has an embassy in Vilnius.
Pakistan and Ukraine formally established diplomatic relations in 1992, one year after the Ukrainian Declaration of Independence. In recent years, the two countries have increasingly developed close economic and military ties. In 2021, their bilateral trade turnover stood at US$411.8 million.
NATO maintains foreign relations with many non-member countries across the globe. NATO runs a number of programs which provide a framework for the partnerships between itself and these non-member nations, typically based on that country's location. These include the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council and the Partnership for Peace.
A Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) (Japanese: 部隊間協力円滑化協定, lit. 'Force-to-force Cooperation Facilitation Agreement') refers to a bilateral defense and security pacts between governments that provides shared military training and military operations. It is an agreement built to create a framework for the two cooperating countries to move their military force whenever required, and also provides a pathway for goods to be imported and exported from one country to the other through following the movement of visiting military forces.
U-24 is an intergovernmental peacekeeping organization proposed by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy aimed at quickly ending armed conflicts between countries. It was first voiced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his speech to the U.S. Congress on 16 March 2022.
The 2024 Washington summit was the 33rd summit of the heads of state and government of the thirty-two members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), their partner countries and the European Union (EU), which took place in Washington, D.C., United States, on 9–11 July 2024. The summit commemorates the landmark 75th anniversary of NATO, which was founded on 4 April 1949 with the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, DC. The summit was also the fourth NATO summit to be held in the United States following the 1978 Washington summit, 1999 Washington summit and 2012 Chicago summit. It also marks the first summit since Sweden acceded to NATO and the last for Jens Stoltenberg as Secretary General.