Conference of American States

The Conference of American States (: Conferencia de los Estados Americanos, : Conférence des États Américains, : Konferenz der Amerikanische Länder), or the CAS or CEA, is a - union of 22 member states that are located primarily in. Covering an area of over 879,000 square miles (2,276,600 square kilometers) and with an estimated population of over 600 million people, it includes all of with the exception of Mexico and a few dependent territories including. The Conference of American States has a combined of $24 trillion, and if it were a sovereign state, be the largest economy in the world.

The CAS features an organized system of supranational institutions and standardized laws that apply to all member states. The institutions include the Parliament of American States, the American Council, the American Court of Justice, and the American Customs Authority. Within the St. Louis Area, border control between participating member states (, Brazoria, Canada, the Confederate States,, Sierra, and the United States) has been eliminated. The CAS features a with an overarching  among all member states. Members of the American Parliament are elected every four years by CAS citizens while members in the Conference's other institutions are appointed internally or by their member states.

Through common agreement and the Treaty of St. Louis, the CAS is enabled to power to protect basic human rights and to enact legislation concerning internal affairs and justice, and common policies on trade, agriculture, and the environment. Unlike its, there is no although there is  with a.

The CAS was created through the Treaty of St. Louis in 1946, following the conclusion of with the intention of creating an international union that would include all countries in the Americas. With most of objecting to a political union however (and with the alternative creation of the ), namely, in opposition to perceived dominance by the Anglo-speaking nations of North America, the CAS was initially founded with only four states: Brazoria, Canada, the Confederate States, and the United States. Over the years, membership expanded, with Sierra joining in 1965, and all of North America excluding Mexico by 2006. Since then, the possibility of expanding the CAS into South America as it was originally intended has been considered, with all of the South American states (excluding and ) an observer state of the CAS.

As a whole, the CAS has been treated as a supranational entity with some elements akin to that of a sovereign state. In the League of Nations and other organizations, the CAS represents itself alongside its own member states, although only as an observer state. In the LN, it has enhanced participation rights and status as an observer.