Matthew King wrote:
> > [snip] NATO, most of whose governments are members of the Socialist
> > International [snip]
>
> I wasn't aware there was any such thing--is there any such thing, or are
> the authors speaking metaphorically?
The "Socialist International," a.k.a. the "Second International," is a grouping
of social-democratic political parties, including Germany's (governing) Social
Democratic Party and Britain's (governing) Labour Party, and so on. It is not
the governments that are members, but the parties that now "form" the
governments. The "Comintern" (Communist International; Third International) was
formed by the Bolsheviks and others after WWI because (among other reasons) most
parties in the 2nd International had supported WWI, in violation of their stated
principles. The 2nd International replaced the ill-fated First International,
which Marx helped to found, and which broke up in the late 19th century over
debates between Marxists and anarchists like Bakunin.