NATO
New membership in the alliance has been largely from Central and Eastern Europe, including former members of the Warsaw Pact. Accession to the alliance is governed with individual Membership Action Plans, and requires approval by each current member. NATO currently has two candidate countries that are in the process of joining the alliance: Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Macedonia.
In NATO official statements, the Republic of Macedonia is always referred to as the "former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", with a footnote stating that "Turkey recognizes the Republic of Macedonia under its constitutional name". Though Macedonia completed its requirements for membership at the same time as Croatia and Albania, who joined NATO in 2009, its accession was blocked by Greece pending a resolution of the Macedonia naming dispute. In order to support each other in the process, new and potential members in the region formed the Adriatic Charter in 2003. Georgia was also named as an aspiring member, and was promised "future membership" during the 2008 summit in Bucharest, though in 2014, US President Barack Obama said the country was not "currently on a path" to membership.
United Kingdom
The UK is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, a member of NATO, the Commonwealth of Nations, the G7 finance ministers, the G7 forum (previously the "G8 forum"), the G20, the OECD, the WTO, the Council of Europe and the OSCE. It is also a member state of the European Union in the process of withdrawal. The UK is said to have a "Special Relationship" with the United States and a close partnership with France—the "Entente cordiale"—and shares nuclear weapons technology with both countries; the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance is considered to be the oldest currently binding military alliance in the world. The UK is also closely linked with the Republic of Ireland; the two countries share a Common Travel Area and co-operate through the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference and the British-Irish Council. Britain's global presence and influence is further amplified through its trading relations, foreign investments, official development assistance and military engagements. Canada, Australia and New Zealand are the most favourably viewed countries in the world by British people, sharing a number of close diplomatic, military and cultural ties with the UK. There is considerable public and political support for increased trade, foreign policy co-operation and mobility of citizens between the UK and Canada, Australia and New Zealand under a proposal known by the acronym "CANZUK" – with 68% of British people stating that they would endorse the proposition in principle.