Unions (9)
I believe the answer is:
alliances
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">unions</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">(alliance is a kind of union)</span><br/ ><br/ >This is all the clue.<br/ ></span>
(Other definitions for alliances that I've seen before include "Unions, associations" , "The court of the papel see" , "partnerships" .)