Western Bloc

The "Three Worlds" of the Cold War era, April – August 1975

  First World: Western Bloc led by the USA, Japan, United Kingdom and their allies

  Second World: Eastern Bloc led by the USSR, China, and their allies

  Third World: Non-Aligned and neutral countries

Political situation in Europe during the Cold War

The Western Bloc, also known as the Free Bloc, Capitalist Bloc and the American Bloc, was a coalition of the countries that were allied with the United States and its ideology (liberalism), a member of NATO, opposed the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact, and Anti-Communism during the Cold War 1947-1991. The latter were referred to as the Eastern Bloc. The governments and the press of the Western Bloc were more inclined to refer to themselves as the Free World or the First World, whereas the Eastern Bloc was often called the "Communist World" or "Second World".

Western Bloc associations

NATO

Countries which have become NATO members after the end of the Cold War

Other NATO-affiliated states and partners

Communist states in opposition to the Soviet Union

ANZUS

•  Australia
•  New Zealand
•  United States

Compact of Free Association

•  Marshall Islands
•  Federated States of Micronesia
•  Palau
•  United States

CENTO (until 1979)

•  Iran (until 1979)
•  Iraq (until 1958)
•  Pakistan (until 1979)
•  Turkey (until 1979)
•  United Kingdom (until 1979)

Rio Treaty

SEATO (until 1977)

Map of SEATO members in 1959, shown in blue

•  Australia (until 1977)
•  France (until 1965)
•  Laos (until 1975)
•  New Zealand (until 1977)
•  Pakistan (until 1972)
•  Philippines (until 1977)
•  South Vietnam (until 1975)
•  Thailand (until 1977)
•  United Kingdom (until 1977)
•  United States (until 1977)

Middle East/North Africa Region

East Asia

•  Japan
•  South Korea
•  Taiwan

ASEAN

•  Indonesia
•  Philippines
•  Thailand
•  Malaysia
•  Singapore
•  Brunei (from 1984)
•  Vietnam (from 1995)

Other

•  South Africa
•  Pakistan (Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement, from 1954)
•  Ethiopia (before 1974)

Western Bloc Associations Today

NATO

Other NATO affiliated states and partners

Africa and Middle Eastern Partners

Asia, South East Asian and Oceania Partners

Inter-American Partners

Quadrilateral Security Dialogue

•  United States
•  India
•  Australia
•  Japan

See also

Notes

References

Sources

• Matloff, Maurice. Makers of Modern Strategy. Ed. Peter Paret. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1971. 702.
• Kissinger, Henry. Diplomacy. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994. 447,454.
• Lewkowicz, Nicolas. The United States, the Soviet Union and the Geopolitical Implications of the Origins of the Cold War New York and London: Anthem Press, 2018.