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International cooperation is shaped by a history of waterways and wars

The first international organization dates to an 1804 treaty on the Rhine River. In the 20th century, organizations for carrying out a lot of the world's cooperation and development proliferated to find complex solutions and prevent wars.

Rows of flags outside the U.N. headquarters at the Palais des Nations in Geneva
Rows of flags outside the U.N. headquarters at the Palais des Nations in Geneva (AN/J. Heilprin)

GENEVA (AN) — The first international organization dates to a European treaty more than two centuries ago to oversee ship tolls, towpaths and trade disputes on the Rhine River.

The fledging river administration created by the Treaty of 15 October 1804 between the French Empire and Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation evolved into the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine.

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