Non-Aligned Movement

Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)
Member countries   Observer countries
Coordinating Bureau		New York City, United States
Membership		120 members 17 observers
Leaders
•	Principal decision- making organ	Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries
•	Secretary-General	Hassan Rouhani
Establishment		1961 in Belgrade as the Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries
Website csstc.org

The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a group of states which are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. As of 2012, the movement has 120 members.

The organization was founded in Belgrade in 1961, and was largely conceived by India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru; Indonesia's first president, Sukarno; Egypt's second president, Gamal Abdel Nasser; Ghana's first president Kwame Nkrumah; and Yugoslavia's president, Josip Broz Tito. All five leaders were prominent advocates of a middle course for states in the Developing World between the Western and Eastern Blocs in the Cold War. The phrase itself was first used to represent the doctrine by Indian diplomat V. K. Krishna Menon in 1953, at the United Nations.

In a speech given during the Havana Declaration of 1979, Fidel Castro said the purpose of the organization is to ensure "the national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of non-aligned countries" in their "struggle against imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, racism, and all forms of foreign aggression, occupation, domination, interference or hegemony as well as against great power and bloc politics". The countries of the Non-Aligned Movement represent nearly two-thirds of the United Nations's members and contain 55% of the world population. Membership is particularly concentrated in countries considered to be developing or part of the Third World.

Members have at times included the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Argentina, Namibia, Cyprus, and Malta. Although many of the Non-Aligned Movement's members were actually quite closely aligned with one or another of the super powers, the movement still maintained cohesion throughout the Cold War. Some members were involved in serious conflicts with other members (e.g. India and Pakistan, Iran and Iraq). The movement fractured from its own internal contradictions when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Although the Soviet allies supported the invasion, other members of the movement (particularly predominantly Muslim states) condemned it.

Because the Non-Aligned Movement was formed as an attempt to thwart the Cold War, it has struggled to find relevance since the Cold War ended. After the breakup of Yugoslavia, a founding member, its membership was suspended in 1992 at the regular Ministerial Meeting of the Movement, held in New York during the regular yearly session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. The successor states of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia have expressed little interest in membership, though some have observer status. In 2004, Malta and Cyprus ceased to be members and joined the European Union. Belarus and Azerbaijan are the only two members of the Movement in Europe. Azerbaijan and Fiji are the most recent entrants, joining in 2011. The applications of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Costa Rica were rejected in 1995 and 1998, respectively.

The 16th NAM summit took place in Tehran, Iran, from 26 to 31 August 2012. According to MehrNews agency, representatives from over 150 countries were scheduled to attend. Attendance at the highest level includes 27 presidents, 2 kings and emirs, 7 prime ministers, 9 vice presidents, 2 parliament spokesmen and 5 special envoys. At the summit, Iran took over from Egypt as Chair of the Non-Aligned Movement for the period 2012 to 2015. The 17th Summit of the Non Aligned Movement is to be held in Venezuela in 2016.

Origins

The Non-Aligned movement was never established as a formal organization, but became the name to refer to the participants of the Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries first held in 1961. The term "non-alignment" was established in 1953 at the United Nations. Nehru used the phrase in a 1954 speech in Colombo, Sri Lanka. In this speech, Nehru described the five pillars to be used as a guide for Sino-Indian relations called Panchsheel (five restraints), these principles would later serve as the basis of the Non-Aligned Movement. The five principles were:

• Mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty
• Mutual non-aggression
• Mutual non-interference in domestic affairs
• Equality and mutual benefit
• Peaceful co-existence

A significant milestone in the development of the Non-Aligned Movement was the 1955 Bandung Conference, a conference of Asian and African states hosted by Indonesian president Sukarno, who gave a significant contribution to promote this movement. Bringing together Sukarno, U Nu, Nasser, Nehru, Tito, Nkrumah and Menon with the likes of Ho Chi Minh, Zhou Enlai, and Norodom Sihanouk, as well as U Thant and a young Indira Gandhi, the conference adopted a "declaration on promotion of world peace and cooperation", which included Nehru's five principles, and a collective pledge to remain neutral in the Cold War. Six years after Bandung, an initiative of Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito led to the first Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries, which was held in September 1961 in Belgrade. The term non-aligned movement appears first in the fifth conference in 1976, where participating countries are denoted as members of the movement.

At the Lusaka Conference in September 1970, the member nations added as aims of the movement the peaceful resolution of disputes and the abstention from the big power military alliances and pacts. Another added aim was opposition to stationing of military bases in foreign countries.

The founding fathers of the Non-Aligned Movement were: Jawaharlal Nehru of India, Sukarno of Indonesia, Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia, Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana. Their actions were known as 'The Initiative of Five'.

Organizational structure and membership

The movement stems from a desire not to be aligned within a geopolitical/military structure and therefore itself does not have a very strict organizational structure. Some organizational basics were defined at the 1996 Cartagena Document on Methodology The Summit Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned States is "the highest decision making authority". The chairmanship rotates between countries and changes at every summit of heads of state or government to the country organizing the summit.

Requirements for membership of the Non-Aligned Movement coincide with the key beliefs of the United Nations. The current requirements are that the candidate country has displayed practices in accordance with the ten "Bandung principles" of 1955:

• Respect for fundamental human rights and for the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
• Respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations.
• Recognition of the movements for national independence.
• Recognition of the equality of all races and of the equality of all nations, large and small.
• Abstention from intervention or interference in the internal affairs of another country.
• Respect for the right of each nation to defend itself singly or collectively, in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations.
• Refraining from acts or threats of aggression or the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any country.
• Settlement of all international disputes by peaceful means, in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations.
• Promotion of mutual interests and co-operation.
• Respect for justice and international obligations.

Policies and ideology

File:Non-Aligned Movement (emblem - South Africa Conference).png

The South Africa Conference NAM logo.

Secretaries General of the NAM had included such diverse figures as Suharto, a corrupt and militaristic anti-communist, and Nelson Mandela, a democratic socialist and famous anti-apartheid activist. Consisting of many governments with vastly different ideologies, the Non-Aligned Movement is unified by its declared commitment to world peace and security. At the seventh summit held in New Delhi in March 1983, the movement described itself as "history's biggest peace movement". The movement places equal emphasis on disarmament. NAM's commitment to peace pre-dates its formal institutionalisation in 1961. The Brioni meeting between heads of governments of India, Egypt and Yugoslavia in 1956 recognized that there exists a vital link between struggle for peace and endeavours for disarmament.

During the 1970s and early 1980s, the NAM also sponsored campaigns for restructuring commercial relations between developed and developing nations, namely the New International Economic Order (NIEO), and its cultural offspring, the New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO). The latter, on its own, sparked a Non-Aligned initiative on cooperation for communications, the Non-Aligned News Agencies Pool, created in 1975 and later converted into the NAM News Network in 2005.

The Non-Aligned Movement espouses policies and practices of cooperation, especially those that are multilateral and provide mutual benefit to all those involved. Many of the members of the Non-Aligned Movement are also members of the United Nations. Both organisations have a stated policy of peaceful cooperation, yet the successes the NAM has had with multilateral agreements tend to be ignored by the larger, western and developed nation dominated UN. African concerns about apartheid were linked with Arab-Asian concerns about Palestine and multilateral cooperation in these areas has enjoyed moderate success. The Non-Aligned Movement has played a major role in various ideological conflicts throughout its existence, including extreme opposition to apartheid governments and support of guerrilla movements in various locations, including Rhodesia and South Africa.

Role after the Cold War

Since the end of the Cold War and the formal end of colonialism, the Non-Aligned Movement has been forced to redefine itself and reinvent its purpose in the current world system. A major question has been whether many of its foundational ideologies, principally national independence, territorial integrity, and the struggle against colonialism and imperialism, can be applied to contemporary issues. The movement has emphasised its principles of multilateralism, equality, and mutual non-aggression in attempting to become a stronger voice for the global South, and an instrument that can be utilised to promote the needs of member nations at the international level and strengthen their political leverage when negotiating with developed nations. In its efforts to advance Southern interests, the movement has stressed the importance of cooperation and unity amongst member states, but as in the past, cohesion remains a problem since the size of the organisation and the divergence of agendas and allegiances present the ongoing potential for fragmentation. While agreement on basic principles has been smooth, taking definitive action vis-à-vis particular international issues has been rare, with the movement preferring to assert its criticism or support rather than pass hard-line resolutions.

The movement continues to see a role for itself, as in its view, the world's poorest nations remain exploited and marginalised, no longer by opposing superpowers, but rather in a uni-polar world, and it is Western hegemony and neo-colonialism that the movement has really re-aligned itself against. It opposes foreign occupation, interference in internal affairs and aggressive unilateral measures, but it has also shifted to focus on the socio-economic challenges facing member states, especially the inequalities manifested by globalization and the implications of neo-liberal policies. The Non-Aligned Movement has identified economic underdevelopment, poverty, and social injustices as growing threats to peace and security.

Current activities and positions

Criticism of US policy

In recent years the organization has criticized certain aspects of US foreign policy. The 2003 invasion of Iraq and the War on Terrorism, its attempts to stifle Iran and North Korea's nuclear plans, and its other actions have been denounced by some members of the Non-Aligned Movement as attempts to run roughshod over the sovereignty of smaller nations; at the most recent summit, Kim Yong-nam, the head of North Korea's parliament, stated that, "The United States is attempting to deprive other countries of even their legitimate right to peaceful nuclear activities."

Self-determination of Puerto Rico

Since 1961, the organization has supported the discussion of the case of Puerto Rico's self-determination before the United Nations. A resolution on the matter was to be proposed on the XV Summit by the Hostosian National Independence Movement.

Self-determination of Western Sahara

Since 1973, the group has supported the discussion of the case of Western Sahara's self-determination before the United Nations. The movement reaffirmed in its last meeting (Sharm El Sheikh 2009) the support to the Self-determination of the Sahrawi people by choosing between any valid option, welcomed the direct conversations between the parties, and remembered the responsibility of the United Nations on the Sahrawi issue.

Sustainable development

The movement is publicly committed to the tenets of sustainable development and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals, but it believes that the international community has not created conditions conducive to development and has infringed upon the right to sovereign development by each member state. Issues such as globalization, the debt burden, unfair trade practices, the decline in foreign aid, donor conditionality, and the lack of democracy in international financial decision-making are cited as factors inhibiting development.

Reforms of the UN

The movement has been outspoken in its criticism of current UN structures and power dynamics, stating that the organisation has been utilised by powerful states in ways that violate the movement's principles. It has made a number of recommendations that it says would strengthen the representation and power of "non-aligned" states. The proposed UN reforms are also aimed at improving the transparency and democracy of UN decision-making. The UN Security Council is the element it considers the most distorted, undemocratic, and in need of reshaping.

South-South cooperation

The movement has collaborated with other organisations of the developing world – primarily the Group of 77 – forming a number of joint committees and releasing statements and documents representing the shared interests of both groups. This dialogue and cooperation can be taken as an effort to increase the global awareness about the organisation and bolster its political clout.

Cultural diversity and human rights

The movement accepts the universality of human rights and social justice, but fiercely resists cultural homogenisation. In line with its views on sovereignty, the organisation appeals for the protection of cultural diversity, and the tolerance of the religious, socio-cultural, and historical particularities that define human rights in a specific region.

Working groups, task forces, committees

• Committee on Palestine
• High-Level Working Group for the Restructuring of the United Nations
• Joint Coordinating Committee (chaired by Chairman of G-77 and Chairman of NAM)
• Non-Aligned Security Caucus
• Standing Ministerial Committee for Economic Cooperation
• Task Force on Somalia
• Working Group on Disarmament
• Working Group on Human Rights
• Working Group on Peace-Keeping Operations

Summits

16th summit of the NAM, Tehran

The conference of Heads of State or Government of the Non-Aligned Countries, often referred to as Non-Aligned Movement Summit is the main meeting within the movement and are held every few years:

	Date	Host country	Host city
1st	1–6 September 1961	Yugoslavia	Belgrade
2nd	5–10 October 1964	United Arab Republic	Cairo
3rd	8–10 September 1970	Zambia	Lusaka
4th	5–9 September 1973	Algeria	Algiers
5th	16–19 August 1976	Sri Lanka	Colombo
6th	3–9 September 1979	Cuba	Havana
7th	7–12 March 1983	India	New Delhi
8th	1–6 September 1986	Zimbabwe	Harare
9th	4–7 September 1989	Yugoslavia	Belgrade
10th	1–6 September 1992	Indonesia	Jakarta
11th	18–20 October 1995	Colombia	Cartagena de Indias
12th	2–3 September 1998	South Africa	Durban
13th	20–25 February 2003	Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur
14th	15–16 September 2006	Cuba	Havana
15th	11–16 July 2009	Egypt	Sharm El Sheikh
16th	26–31 August 2012	Iran	Tehran
17th	TBA 2016	Venezuela	TBA

A variety of ministerial meetings are held between the summit meetings. Some are specialist, such as the meeting on "Inter-Faith Dialogue and Co-operation for Peace", held in Manila, the Philippines, 16–18 March 2010. There is a general Conference of Foreign Ministers every three years. The most recent were in Bali, Indonesia, 23–27 May 2011 and Algiers, Algeria, 26–29 May 2014.

The Non-Aligned Movement celebrated its 50th anniversary in Belgrade on 5–6 September 2011.

Secretaries General

Between summits, the Non-Aligned Movement is run by the Secretary General elected at last summit meeting. The Coordinating Bureau, also based at the UN, is the main instrument for directing the work of the movement's task forces, committees and working groups.

Secretary General of the Non-Aligned Movement
Name	Country	Party	From	To
Josip Broz Tito	Yugoslavia	League of Communists of Yugoslavia	1961	1964
Gamal Abdel Nasser	United Arab Republic	Arab Socialist Union	1964	1970
Kenneth Kaunda	Zambia	United National Independence Party	1970	1973
Houari Boumediène	Algeria	Revolutionary Council	1973	1976
William Gopallawa	Sri Lanka	Independent	1976	1978
Junius Richard Jayewardene		United National Party	1978	1979
Fidel Castro	Cuba	Communist Party of Cuba	1979	1983
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy	India	Janata Party	1983
Zail Singh		Congress Party	1983	1986
Robert Mugabe	Zimbabwe	ZANU-PF	1986	1989
Janez Drnovšek	Yugoslavia	League of Communists of Yugoslavia	1989	1990
Borisav Jović		Socialist Party of Serbia	1990	1991
Stjepan Mesić		Croatian Democratic Union	1991
Branko Kostić		Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro	1991	1992
Dobrica Ćosić	Yugoslavia	Independent	1992
Suharto	Indonesia	Golkar	1992	1995
Ernesto Samper	Colombia	Colombian Liberal Party	1995	1998
Andrés Pastrana Arango		Colombian Conservative Party	1998
Nelson Mandela	South Africa	African National Congress	1998	1999
Thabo Mbeki			1999	2003
Mahathir Mohamad	Malaysia	United Malays National Organisation	2003
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi			2003	2006
Fidel Castro	Cuba	Communist Party of Cuba	2006	2008
Raúl Castro			2008	2009
Hosni Mubarak	Egypt	National Democratic Party	2009	2011
Mohamed Hussein Tantawi		Independent	2011	2012
Mohamed Morsi		Freedom and Justice Party	2012
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad	Iran	Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran	2012	2013
Hassan Rouhani		Moderation and Development Party	2013	present

Members, observers and guests

Current members

The following countries are members of the NAM, arranged by continent, showing their year of admission:

Africa

Currently every African country (except the newly created South Sudan) is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement.

1. Algeria (1961)
2. Angola (1964)
3. Benin (1964)
4. Botswana (1970)
5. Burkina Faso (1973)
6. Burundi (1964)
7. Cameroon (1964)
8. Cape Verde (1976)
9. Central African Republic (1964)
10. Chad (1964)
11. Comoros (1976)
12. Democratic Republic of the Congo (1961)
13. Djibouti (1983)
14. Egypt (1961)
15. Equatorial Guinea (1970)
16. Eritrea (1995)
17. Ethiopia (1961)
18. Gabon (1970)
19. Gambia (1973)
20. Ghana (1961)
21. Guinea (1961)
22. Guinea-Bissau (1976)
23. Côte d'Ivoire (1973)
24. Kenya (1964)
25. Lesotho (1970)
26. Liberia (1964)
27. Libya (1964)
28. Madagascar (1973)
29. Malawi (1964)
30. Mali (1961)
31. Mauritania (1964)
32. Mauritius (1973)
33. Morocco (1961)
34. Mozambique (1976)
35. Namibia (1979)
36. Niger (1973)
37. Nigeria (1964)
38. Republic of the Congo (1964)
39. Rwanda (1970)
40. São Tomé and Príncipe (1976)
41. Senegal (1964)
42. Seychelles (1976)
43. Sierra Leone (1964)
44. Somalia (1961)
45. South Africa (1994)
46. Sudan (1961)
47. Swaziland (1970)
48. Tanzania (1964)
49. Togo (1964)
50. Tunisia (1961)
51. Uganda (1964)
52. Zambia (1964)
53. Zimbabwe (1979)

Americas

1. Antigua and Barbuda (2006)
2. Bahamas (1983)
3. Barbados (1983)
4. Belize (1976)
5. Bolivia (1979)
6. Chile (1973)
7. Colombia (1983)
8. Cuba (1961)
9. Dominica (2006)
10. Dominican Republic (2000)
11. Ecuador (1983)
12. Grenada (1979)
13. Guatemala (1993)
14. Guyana (1970)
15. Haiti (2006)
16. Honduras (1995)
17. Jamaica (1970)
18. Nicaragua (1979)
19. Panama (1976)
20. Peru (1973)
21. Saint Kitts and Nevis (2006)
22. Saint Lucia (1983)
23. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (2003)
24. Suriname (1983)
25. Trinidad and Tobago (1970)
26. Venezuela (1989)

Asia

1. Afghanistan (1961)
2. Azerbaijan (2011)
3. Bahrain (1973)
4. Bangladesh (1973)
5. Bhutan (1973)
6. Brunei (1993)
7. Cambodia (1961)
8. India (1961)
9. Indonesia (1961)
10. Iran (1979)
11. Iraq (1961)
12. Jordan (1964)
13. Kuwait (1964)
14. Laos (1964)
15. Lebanon (1961)
16. Malaysia (1970)
17. Maldives (1976)
18. Mongolia (1993)
19. Myanmar (1961)
20. Nepal (1961)
21. North Korea (1976)
22. Oman (1973)
23. Pakistan (1979)
24. State of Palestine (1976)
25. Philippines (1993)
26. Qatar (1973)
27. Saudi Arabia (1961)
28. Singapore (1970)
29. Sri Lanka (1961)
30. Syria (1964)
31. Thailand (1993)
32. East Timor (2003)
33. Turkmenistan (1995)
34. United Arab Emirates (1970)
35. Uzbekistan (1993)
36. Vietnam (1976)
37. Yemen (1990)

Europe

1. Belarus (1998)

Oceania

1. Fiji (2011)
2. Papua New Guinea (1993)
3. Vanuatu (1983)

Former members

1. Argentina (1973–1991)
2. Cyprus (1961–2004)
3. Malta (1973–2004)
4. Yugoslavia (1961–1992) (including FR Yugoslavia)

Observers

The following countries and organizations have observer status:

Countries

1. Argentina
2. Armenia
3. Bosnia and Herzegovina
4. Brazil
5. China
6. Costa Rica
7. El Salvador
8. Kazakhstan
9. Kyrgyzstan
10. Mexico
11. Montenegro
12. Paraguay
13. Serbia
14. Tajikistan
15. Ukraine
16. Uruguay

Organisations

1. African Union
2. Afro-Asian People's Solidarity Organisation
3. Arab League
4. Commonwealth Secretariat
5. Hostosian National Independence Movement
6. Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front
7. Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
8. South Centre
9. United Nations
10. World Peace Council
11. International Institute for Non-Aligned Studies

Guests

There is no permanent guest status, but often several non-member countries are represented as guests at conferences. In addition, a large number of organisations, both from within the UN system and from outside, are always invited as guests.

Presidency

NAM's presidency changes every three years. Iran currently holds the Presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement and hosted the 16th NAM summit between 26 and 31 August 2012, after which the presidency was handed to Iran on 1 September. The latest move by the NAM presidency has been to organise a NAM filmmakers' meeting in order to discuss the establishment of a NAM filmmakers' union. The meeting is to be held in February 2013, concurrently with the 31st Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran.

See also

• Asian–African Conference
• Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence
• G-77
• New World Information and Communication Order
• North–South divide
• India and the Non-Aligned Movement
• South-South Cooperation
• Third World

Further reading

• Hans Köchler (ed.), The Principles of Non-Alignment. The Non-aligned Countries in the Eighties—Results and Perspectives. London: Third World Centre, 1982. ISBN 0-86199-015-3 (Google Print)

External links

• Official Site: 16th Summit – Sixteenth Non Aligned Movement Summit, (Tehran 26–31 August 2012)
• Official Site: 15th Summit – Fifteenth Non Aligned Movement Summit, (Sharm el Sheikh 11–16 July 2009)
• Official Site: 14th Summit – Fourteenth Non Aligned Movement Summit, (Havana, 11–16 September 2006)
• Non-Aligned Movement – South African government NAM site
• International Institute for Non-Aligned Studies – International Organization for Non-Aligned Movement
• The Cold War International History Project's Document Collection on the NAM

Videos

• Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Tehran – PressTV (2012)
• Iran’s NAM presidency – PressTV (2012)