By Deniz Benli.

There are many other major alliances in the world, but which ones can rival NATO? 

EU:

The EU is more of an economic alliance than a military one, but if it clashed with NATO, it would stand no chance. The only EU members who aren’t in NATO are Austria, Cyprus and Malta. They could not possible pose a threat to the other NATO members who aren’t in the EU: the UK, USA, Turkey, Norway, Albania, North Macedonia and Montenegro.  

CSTO:

Sometimes referred to as the Russian NATO, The CSTO could not even try to fight the NATO members at is centred on Russia, whose military weaknesses and reliance on Soviet-era technology are being revealed in Ukraine. It also has several other former Soviet countries in it, but is much weaker than the Western alliance. 

BRICS:

BRICS  is the main rival to NATO and is comprised of some of the world’s strongest countries:  Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. However, BRICS is not a military alliance so it is extremely unlikely that all BRICS members will fight NATO especially given that Brazil, India and South Africa are US allies. 

ASEAN:

The ASEAN is centred around Southeast Asia, but again is not a military alliance and regardless cannot rival NATO’s power.  

African Union:

An up-and-coming bloc representing continental Africa may well play a major role in the geopolitics of the future. Yet for now, it cannot rival NATO’s strength.