Non-Aligned Movement
From Open Encyclopedia
The Non-Aligned Movement, or NAM, is an international organization of over 100 states which consider themselves not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. NAM focuses on national struggles for independence, the eradication of poverty, economic development and opposing colonialism, imperialism, and neo-colonialism. They represent 55% of the planet's people and nearly two-thirds of the UN's members.
Important members include India, Egypt, South Africa and, for a time, the People's Republic of China. Brazil has never been a formal member of the movement, but the country shares many of the aims of NAM and frequently sends observers to NAM summits. While the organization was intended to be as close an alliance as NATO or the Warsaw Pact, it has little cohesion and many of its members were induced or unable to resist aligning with one or another of the great powers. For example, Cuba was closely aligned with the former Soviet Union during the Cold War era.
The Non-Aligned Movement has struggled to find relevance since the end of the Cold War. The successor states of Yugoslavia, a founding member, have expressed little interest in the NAM since the country's break-up, and in 2004, Slovenia, along with Malta and Cyprus, ceased to be a member of the NAM when it joined the European Union. Malta and Cyprus now have the status of observer.
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The Origin of the Non-Aligned Movement
Image:Tito-brionska-izjava.jpg The term "Non-Alignment" itself was coined by Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru during his speech in 1954 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. In this speech, Nehru described the five pillars to be used as a guide for Sino-Indian relations, which were first put forth by the contemporary Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. Called Panchsheel, these principles would later serve as the basis of the Non-Aligned Movement. The five principles were:
- Respect for territorial integrity
- Mutual non-aggression
- Mutual non-interference in domestic affairs
- Equality and mutual benefit
- Peaceful co-existence
The origin of the Non-aligned movement can be traced to a conference hosted in Bandung, Indonesia in 1955. The world's "non-aligned" nations declared their desire not to become involved in the East-West ideological confrontation of the Cold War. Bandung marked a significant milestone for the development of NAM as a political movement.
However it was six years later in September of 1961, largely through the initiative of Josip Broz Tito, then-president of Yugoslavia, that the first official Non-Aligned Movement Summit was held. As well as Tito and Nehru, the other prominent world leaders instrumental in getting NAM off the ground were Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt and Sukarno of Indonesia.
NAM Summit meetings
Generally NAM summits take place every three years. Countries that have hosted NAM summits include Yugoslavia, Egypt, Zambia, Algeria, Sri Lanka, Cuba, India, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, Colombia, South Africa, and Malaysia.
The first summit was held at Belgrade in 1961. The summit saw representatives from 25 countries – eleven from both Asia and Africa along with Yugoslavia, Cuba, and Cyprus.
The next meeting was held in Cairo in 1964. It was attended by forty-six nations, with most of the new members being newly independent African states. Much of the meeting involved discussions about the Arab-Israeli conflict and the Indo-Pakistani Wars.
The 1970 meeting in Lusaka was attended by fifty-four nations and was one of the most important with the movement forming a permanent organization to foster economic and political ties. Zambia's first president, Kenneth Kaunda, played a crucial role in these events.
The 1973 meeting in Algiers saw the movement deal with new economic realities. The 1973 world oil shock had made some of its members vastly richer than the others. The end of the attachment of the U.S. currency to gold, and the dollar's subsequent devaluation, also removed one of the group's largest complaints.
NAM Summit Locations and Dates
- 1st Summit – Belgrade, 1 September 1961 – 6 September 1961
- 2nd Summit – Cairo, 5 October 1964 – 10 October 1964
- 3rd Summit – Lusaka, 8 September 1970 – 10 September 1970
- 4th Summit – Algiers, 5 September 1973 – 9 September 1973
- 5th Summit – Colombo, 16 August 1976 – 19 August 1976
- 6th Summit – Havana, 3 September 1979 – 9 September 1979
- 7th Summit – New Delhi, 7 March 1983 – 12 March 1983
- 8th Summit – Harare, 1 September 1986 – 6 September 1986
- 9th Summit – Belgrade, 4 September 1989 – 7 September 1989
- 10th Summit – Jakarta, 1 September 1992 – 7 September 1992
- 11th Summit – Cartagena de Indias, 18 October 1995 – 20 October 1995
- 12th Summit – Durban, 2 September 1998 – 3 September 1998
- 13th Summit – Kuala Lumpur, 20 February 2003 – 25 February 2003
- 14th Summit – Durban, 17 August 2004 – 19 August 2004
Members
See also
External link
- The Non-Aligned Movement: Background Information (September 2001)
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