Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)

The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a group of states which are not aligned formally with or against any major power bloc. As of 2012, the movement has 120 members and 17 observer countries.

The organization was founded in Belgrade in 1961, and was largely the brainchild of Yugoslavia's president, Josip Broz Tito; Indonesia's first president, Sukarno; Egypt's second president, Gamal Abdel Nasser; Ghana's first president Kwame Nkrumah; and India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. 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 and statesman 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, the South West Africa People's Organization, Cyprus, and Malta. While 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 surprising amounts of 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. While 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 remains the sole member of the Movement in Europe. Turkmenistan, Belarus and the Dominican Republic are the most recent entrants. The applications of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Costa Rica were rejected in 1995 and 1998.

The 16th NAM summit took place in Tehran, Iran from 26 to 31 August 2012. According to MehrNews agency, representatives from over 150 countries are 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 is taking 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 Caracas, Venezuela in 2015.

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" itself was coined by V.K. Krishna Menon in 1953 remarks at the United Nations. Menon's friend, Jawaharlal Nehru used the phrase in a 1954 speech in Colombo, Sri Lanka. In his speech, Nehru described the five pillars to be used as a guide for Sino-Indian relations, which were first put forth by Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. 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. The attending nations declared their desire not to become involved in the Cold War and adopted a "declaration on promotion of world peace and cooperation", which included Nehru's five principles. 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: Sukarno of Indonesia, Jawaharlal Nehru of India, Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia, Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana. Their actions were known as 'The Initiative of Five'.

Current activities and positions:

Criticism of US policy

In recent years the organization has criticized US foreign policy. The US 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 as human rights violations and attempts to run roughshod over the sovereignty of smaller nations. The movement's leaders have also criticized the American control over the United Nations and other international structures.

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 quite outspoken in its criticism of current UN structures and power dynamics, mostly in how the organisation has been utilised by powerful states in ways that violate the movement's principles. It has made a number of recommendations that 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 considered the most distorted, undemocratic, and in need of reshaping.

South-South cooperation

Lately 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.[citation needed] 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

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	2015	Venezuela	Caracas

Chairperson

Chairperson 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	FR Yugoslavia	Independent	1992
Suharto	Indonesia	Partai Golongan Karya	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[32]	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	Present