The Western Bloc, also known as the Free Bloc, the Capitalist Bloc, the American Bloc, and the NATO Bloc, was a coalition of countries that were officially allied with the United States during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

of 1947–1991. It was spearheaded by the

member states A member state is a state that is a member of an international organization or of a federation or confederation. Since the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) include some members that are not sovereign states ...

of NATO, but also included countries that advocated anti-communism and anti-socialism, and likewise were opposed to the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact. The term was used to distinguish this anti-Soviet grouping from its pro-Soviet counterpart: the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

. Throughout the protracted period marked by Soviet–American tensions, 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 referred to as the "Communist World" or more formally as the " Second World".

1947–1991 Western Bloc associations

NATO

* Belgium* * Canada* * Denmark* * France* *

FR Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...

(1955–1990) * Greece (from 1952) * Iceland* * Italy* * Luxembourg* * Netherlands* * Norway* * Portugal* * Spain (from 1982) * Turkey (from 1952) * United Kingdom* * United States*

Five Eyes

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

* Canada * New Zealand * United Kingdom * United States

ANZUS

* New Zealand * United States

Anti-Soviet communist or socialist states (until
1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...
)

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

(from 1961) *

Kampuchea Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

(until 1982) ** CGDK (from 1982) * Romania (from 1964) * Yugoslavia (from 1948)

Compact of Free Association

* Marshall Islands * Micronesia * Palau * United States

METO, Baghdad Pact, CENTO (until 1979)

* Iran (until

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

) * Iraq (until

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

) * Pakistan (until 1979) * Turkey (until 1979) * United Kingdom (until 1979)

Rio Treaty

* Argentina * Bahamas (from 1982) *

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

(until 2005) * Brazil * Chile *

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

* Cuba (1902–1959) (until

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

) * Dominican Republic (until 1990) * Ecuador (until 2012) *

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

* Mexico * Nicaragua (until

) * Panama * Paraguay * Peru * Trinidad and Tobago (from 1967) * United States * Uruguay * Venezuela (until 1999, rejoined 2019 by Juan Guaidó)

SEATO (until 1977)

(until 1977) * Cambodia (until 1956) **

Khmer Republic The Khmer Republic ( km, សាធារណរដ្ឋខ្មែរ, ; french: République khmère) was a pro-United States military-led republican government of Cambodia that was formally declared on 9 October 1970. The Khmer Republic wa ...

(1970–1975) * France (until 1965) *

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

(until 1975) * New Zealand (until 1977) * Pakistan (until 1972) * Philippines (until 1977) * Republic of Vietnam (until

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

) * Thailand (until 1977) * United Kingdom (until 1977) * United States (until 1977)

Middle East/North Africa Region

* Afghanistan (2001–2021) * Bahrain * Egypt (from 1979) * Iran (until 1979) * Iraq (until

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

) * Israel * Jordan * Kuwait * Lebanon * Libya ( before 1969, from 2011) * Morocco * Oman * Qatar * Saudi Arabia * Somalia (from 1977) *

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

(1971-1985, 2019-2021) *

Syrian opposition The Syrian opposition ( ar, المعارضة السورية ', ) is the political structure represented by the Syrian National Coalition and associated Syrian anti-Assad groups with certain territorial control as an alternative Syrian gover ...

* Tunisia * Turkey (until 2009) * United Arab Emirates * Yemen ( Hadi government) ** North Yemen (1962–1990)

Asia, Southeast Asian and Oceania Partners

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

* South Korea * Taiwan *

* New Zealand * India * Bhutan * Indonesia * Philippines * Thailand * Malaysia * Singapore * Brunei (from 1984) * Vietnam (from 1995)

GUAM/GUUAM

* Georgia * Ukraine * Uzbekistan (1999–2005) * Azerbaijan * Moldova

Others

* Belarus ( 1991–1994) * Bosnia and Herzegovina * Cyprus * Ethiopia (before 1974) *

(1970–1975) * Kosovo * Russia ( 1991–1999) * South Africa * West Berlin * Zaire

Post-1991 Western-aligned associations

NATO

* Albania (from 2009) * Belgium* * Bulgaria (from 2004) * Canada* * Croatia (from 2009) * Czech Republic (from 1999) * Denmark* * Estonia (from 2004) * France* * Germany* * Greece* * Hungary (from 1999) * Iceland* * Italy* *

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

(from 2004) *

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

(from 2004) * Luxembourg* * Montenegro (from 2017) * Netherlands* * North Macedonia (from 2020) * Norway* * Poland (from 1999) * Portugal* * Romania (from 2004) * Slovakia (from 2004) * Slovenia (from 2004) * Spain* * Turkey* * United Kingdom* * United States*

Major non-NATO ally (MNNA)

(from 1987) * Egypt (from 1987) * Israel (from 1987) *

(from 1987) * South Korea (from 1987) * Jordan (from 1996) * New Zealand (from 1997) * Argentina (from 1998) * Bahrain (from 2002) * Philippines (from 2003) * Thailand (from 2003) * '' Taiwan'' (de facto) (from 2003) * Kuwait (from 2004) * Morocco (from 2004) * Pakistan (from 2004) * IR Afghanistan (2012–2021) * Tunisia (from 2015) * Brazil (from 2019) *

(from 2022) * Qatar (from 2022)

Middle Eastern Partners

* Bahrain * Egypt * Iraq (from

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

) * Israel * Jordan * Kuwait * Morocco * Qatar * Saudi Arabia *

* Tunisia * United Arab Emirates

Asia, South East Asian and Oceania Partners

* South Korea * Taiwan * Thailand * New Zealand * Philippines *

* India * Indonesia * Mongolia * Malaysia * Brunei * Bhutan * Singapore * Vietnam

Inter-American Partners

* Argentina * Brazil * Chile *

* Mexico

Quadrilateral Security Dialogue

* United States * India *

GUAM

* Georgia * Ukraine * Azerbaijan * Moldova

Others

* Bosnia and Herzegovina * Cyprus * Finland ( from 2022) * Kosovo *

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

( from 2022) * South Africa

Notes

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. {{Western world Cold War organizations Cold War terminology Country classifications Politics by region Politics of Europe Spheres of influence

1947–1991 Western Bloc associations

METO, Baghdad Pact, CENTO (until 1979)

SEATO (until 1977)

Middle East/North Africa Region

Asia, Southeast Asian and Oceania Partners

Others

Post-1991 Western-aligned associations

Major non-NATO ally (MNNA)

Middle Eastern Partners

Asia, South East Asian and Oceania Partners

Inter-American Partners

Others

See also

Notes

Sources