KUALA LUMPUR – Today marks the 60th anniversary of the first Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries, in Belgrade, Yugoslavia on Sept 1 1961 (Sep 1-6), in the shadow of the Cold War between two competing superpowers deeply divided by ideology at that time.
The convening of the conference marked the birth of NAM or the Non-Aligned Movement, which was formed at the height of the Cold War as an independent path in international politics for those countries wishing to be free from the influence of superpowers and their block politics which were led by the then Soviet Union and the United States, and not becoming pawns in their ideological rivalry.
It was an era when colonial powers were slowly on the way out and the struggle for independence by liberation movements and the people were taking place, especially in Africa and other parts of the world.
But the NAM conference, labelled in the West as a conference of the neutrals, was held amid rising political tensions between Washington and Moscow and their allies. The construction of the Berlin Wall, the powerful symbol of Cold War and a symbol of German division by communist East Germany, began about two weeks before the Belgrade Conference. And on that Sept 1 1961, the Soviet Union resumed nuclear-weapons tests, to the shock of the world.
The founding fathers of NAM are five leaders, from Europe, Asia and Africa – Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia, Jawaharlal Nehru (India), Gamal Abdel Nasser (Egypt), Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana) and Sukarno (Indonesia). The founders of NAM are charismatic world leaders with far-sightedness – not only about the fate and future of the Third World and developing countries, but also about the importance of overall international peace and security to mankind.
They realised the importance of freedom from superpower rivalries, end to colonialism, neo-colonialism and imperialism, and international peace and security through cooperation, not through division. There was a need to ensure these newly independent countries as well as others be “safeguarded” from the threats and pressures from the block politics at that time. The fate of the world cannot be left to great powers alone to decide.
In the statement Tito submitted at the opening of the conference, Tito acknowledged the limitations of NAM as he said “The non-aligned countries do not, of course pretend to be able to solve alone the problems that the Great Powers have not been able to solve so far”.
In his speech, Tito acknowledged the difficult path ahead: “When we have embarked upon an independent role, not aligning ourselves with the groupings of countries in the two opposing camps, and when we resisted the policy of division of the world and rejected all that it entails, we have chosen an arduous road.”
NAM has its basic concepts originating from the historical Asian-African Conference – also known as the Bandung Conference – held in Indonesia in April 1955 and attended by 29 countries. The outcome was the Ten Principles of Bandung’ (Bandung Principles). It was the cornerstone for the movement’s formation later.
Among others, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations, recognition of the equality among all races and all nations, non-intervention or non-interference in the internal affairs of another country and settlement of all international disputes by peaceful means and also the abstention from the use of arrangements of collective defence to serve any particular interests of the big powers.
At the 1979 Havana Summit, Cuba’s then president Fidel Castro in the Havana Declaration outlined NAM’s basic principles and objectives. Among the principles are sovereignty and territorial integrity, independence from great power or block rivalries, peaceful settlement of disputes, freedom of all countries to determine their political systems, non interference and non intervention in the internal and external affairs of other countries, and establishment of a new international economic order.
With the current 120 member countries, 17 observer countries and 10 observer organisations, NAM is the second-largest multilateral platform after the United Nations (UN) and provides a broad and inclusive platform for political consultations and practical cooperation. Out of 193 UN members, 119 of them are NAM members, mainly from Asia and Africa. Palestine, a member of NAM in the 120-member grouping, is not a UN member.
Except South Sudan which achieved independence in 2011, all other African countries are members of the NAM, reflecting the continent’s strength in NAM as the international movement had contributed outstandingly to African independence and liberation struggle against colonial powers.
Since 1961, 18 NAM summits have been hosted in almost all the continents where NAM has membership – Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.
With the exception of Yugoslavia (1961 and 1989), Egypt (1964 and 2009) and Cuba (1979 and 2006), where the NAM summit was held twice, other host countries of the summit in its six-decade history are Zambia (1970), Algeria (1973), Sri Lanka (1976), India (1983), Zimbabwe (1986), Indonesia (1992), Colombia (1995), South Africa (1998), Malaysia (2003), Iran (2012), Venezuela (2016), and Azerbaijan (2019). The next NAM summit is scheduled to be held in Uganda in 2023.
The inaugural Conference adopted a 27-point declaration and was attended by Afghanistan, Algeria, Yemen, Myanmar, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Congo, Cuba, Cyprus, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Lebanon, Mali, Morocco, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, and Yugoslavia. (Yugoslavia has since broken up into several countries).
It is not that NAM members are short of constructive initiatives or ideas for the betterment of member countries and their people. From time to time, such initiatives had been mooted – for example, the proposal by then Uganda’s president Milton Obote at the 1970 summit for the creation of a permanent secretariat.
At the 1976 Colombo Summit, the then Sri Lanka’s prime minister Srimavo Bandaranaike proposed the establishment of a bank for Third World countries. Another proposal she made was for the creation of a currency with the support of Third World countries.
At another NAM meeting in 1976, a decision was made to establish a non-aligned news agencies pool.
The crucial roles NAM played during the Cold War by promoting the Bandung Principles cannot be denied, as it contributed in reducing tensions and strengthening international peace and security. NAM also managed to gather many countries under one umbrella, thus preventing division among its members.
Besides that, at a very critical period of history, the movement rose to the challenges, especially on issues concerning international peace, decolonisation, highlighting the threat of nuclear weapons, fight against Apartheid, and pushing forward the economic agenda.
NAM has played pivotal roles in the decolonisation process, such as in the independence struggle of Namibia, Angola and Zimbabwe, and the end of the Apartheid regime in South Africa.
Like any other international organisations, NAM, throughout its history, was never free from internal bickering and failure to reach consensus on important issues. The movement was at times deeply divided on many issues with members taking sides – for example, on the Soviet’s invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, the Iran-Iraq War, Iraq’s occupation of Kuwait, the Western Sahara issue, Vietnam’s invasion of Cambodia in 1978, oil embargo against certain Western countries, and the creation of Israel.
At times, the movement had been divided on the issues of accepting or admitting new members and observers.
In fact the movement was roundly criticised for its failure to even solve conflict and wars among members as well as issue related to interference in the internal affairs of one member by another.
At NAM’s 18th Ministerial meeting in 2018, Syria’s representative, who sought support from the movement for Syria’s unity, raised several pertinent issues on whether all members live up to NAM’s basic principles, stressing that there are countries within the movement that support terrorism and the notion of having foreign military bases.
Throughout its history, NAM members have articulated their positions on many issues in an independent manner, but this has ended up in failure in achieving consensus on important issues. At the Lusaka 1970 Summit, it was decided that Cambodia’s seat be left vacant due to the issue of whether to admit the government of Lon Nol who toppled King Norodom Sihanouk or whether to admit Sihanouk’s government in exile. The late king was among the leaders who attended the Belgrade 1961 summit.
Two year later at NAM’s Conference of Foreign Ministers in Guyana, the issue of membership for the Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG) of South Vietnam was so intense – to the extent that delegates from few countries left the meeting in protest.
It cannot be denied that the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War had placed NAM at the crossroads. The argument is that NAM is no longer relevant as the movement is largely a creation of the Cold War era. The movement was seen lacking in direction, and the geopolitical issues gripping the world during the early years of NAM have changed. Thus, the call for NAM to be revitalised, redefined, or rejuvenated.
But the end of the Cold War is not the end of NAM, nor should it be used to justify for the end of NAM. In fact, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) – a political and military alliance created in 1949 – was not dissolved despite the end of Cold War. Even from time to time, the UN has been heavily criticised for failures on several issues.
NAM realised the needs to adjust to new reality without losing its objectives or guiding principles, which is still relevant to today’s geopolitics. This was reflected in the first post-Cold War NAM summit in Indonesia in 1992.
The Final Document of the 10th Conference clearly said that it was imperative and urgent for the movement to play its due role in defining and shaping the emerging international realities, to adapt to change, and to articulate and implement appropriate strategies and approaches. It called on the Movement to ensure its full participation in the building of the new world order, and for the members to search for a new approach in keeping with the principles of the Movement.
Malaysia is among the NAM countries which took initiatives in revitalising the movement. During its chairmanship, Malaysia hosted the first NAM Meeting on the Advancement of Women. The Malaysian government also established the NAM Institute for the Empowerment of Women (NIEW).
Besides that, Malaysia hosted the sixth Conference of Ministers of Information of Non-Aligned Countries (Cominac) which gave birth to the NAM News Network (NNN) – the transformation of the now-defunct NANAP or Non-Aligned News Agencies Pool.
Azerbaijan, the current chair, hosted the first-ever Youth Summit of NAM in 2019.
Although political issues have dominated many NAM summits, the movement never failed to look into economic and developmental issues. A proposal was made in the first summit to convene an international conference to discuss their common economic problems.
On the economic front, among the achievement was the formation of the Group of Fifteen (G-15) at the Ninth summit in Belgrade in September 1989. Among its objectives is to be a forum for regular summit-level consultation on important issues facing developing countries.
Throughout its history, NAM have deliberated and spoken on South-South cooperation, North-South gap, the New International Economic Order (NIEO), debt burden, inflow of investment, globalisation, unfair trade practices and many more economic issues.
At the Baku summit, the leaders reaffirmed the need for a New Global Human Order aimed at reversing growing disparities between rich and poor and also urged member States to participate in an open, inclusive and transparent dialogue for a new international economic and financial system and architecture.
On South-South Cooperation, they also agreed to make sure that the NAM would work with the Group of 77 and China on a concrete plan for materialising the establishment of a UN Specialised Agency for South-South cooperation, to be located in a developing country.
The summit reiterated that international development cooperation, especially North-South cooperation, remains a fundamental catalyst to sustainable development.
Throughout last 60 years, NAM members and its leaders have spoken loudly and forcefully on wide ranging of issues old and new, as well as problems affecting member countries interests, in line with changing geopolitics.
Among the issues are those related to colonialism, imperialism, racism decolonisation, Apartheid, self-determination, disarmament, armed conflicts, reforms of the UN, food security, poverty eradication, the New International Economic Order, Palestine issue,climate change, new world order, foreign military intervention, terrorism, technological development, climate change, women empowerment, human rights, refugee issues, good governance, globalisation, sustainable development, environmental degradation, and now on COVID-19 pandemic and access to vaccine.
And many of these issues and problems are affecting NAM countries even till today. Thus, NAM still has roles to play.
The fact that the movement still exist despite the end of the Cold War and that its membership witnessed phenomenal growth in its history – from 25 to 120 – are testimonies to the relevancy of NAM till today.
During the Cold War, the world was divided between two major superpowers seeking influence.Thus, no one can say for sure that in the future there won’t be such scenario, which will be detrimental to NAM members. The international community is already talking about a new Cold War and there is also increasing rivalries between the US and China on all front. Thus, NAM is still needed to address these challenges.
NAM is also still needed as there are still pending issues or agendas related to decolonisation, self-determination and sovereignty. An example is the Palestine issue which is still on the NAM agenda since 1961, and the movement’s existence is important to ensure continued support for the Palestinian cause.
Another issue is the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius. At the 2019 Baku NAM Summit, the leaders reaffirmed that the Chagos Archipelago is, and has always been, part of the territory of Mauritius.
At the same meeting on the question of Western Sahara, the leaders recognised that all available options for self-determination are valid as long as they are in accordance with the freely expressed wishes of the people concerned and in conformity with the clearly defined principles contained in the UN General Assembly Resolutions.
There are still voices from people seeking support from this movement for their struggle to achieve independence, which shows that NAM is still relevant. At a ministerial meeting of the NAM in Venezuela in 2019, a liberation front in New Caledonia with observer status in NAM – The Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front – has asked the movement to support the territory’s decolonisation from France.
The challenges brought by the current COVID-19 pandemic is another example of why NAM still relevant, and one important issue was the unfair distribution of vaccines. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, as the current Chairman of NAM, highlighted the injustice and inequality in the distribution of vaccines due to the attitude of some developed countries.
NAM is needed to defend its members during critical times. This was reflected in the midst of Azerbaijan’s war with Armenia over the Nagorno Karabakh conflict where Aliyev thanked NAM member countries, pointing out that they have prevented the adoption of a document aimed at overshadowing the 1993 UN resolutions demanding the withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from occupied Azerbaijani lands.
The threat against multilateralism, which is crucial to international security and peace, is real, as evident from many incidents in the past and present, by countries which prefer to take unilateral decisions against international law. Again, this needs NAM’s active role to strengthen the multilateralism process and institutions.
Unilateral coercive measures by certain countries against NAM countries like Venezuela, Cuba, Iran and Syria which are subject to multiple forms of sanctions, are hurting the countries’ economy and the people and at the same time a threat to their political and economic independence. Such issues require NAM’s solidarity and support to defend the interests of these countries as the same can happen to other member countries in the future.
NAM is also needed as a force to prevent adverse impacts to its members from geopolitical rivalries among major powers as it has been a bulwark against hegemonic powers in the past.
It is worth recalling, even today, the speech made by the then president of Zambia Kenneth Kaunda when hosting the third Summit in Lusaka in 1970. Kaunda, Zambia’s founding father, passed away recently, in June 2021.
“The principles underlying our movement remain valid despite the changes in the immediate circumstances which gave it birth. We still need independence, freedom, justice, peace, balanced economic development and social justice. The urge for non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations, the urge for peaceful co-existence and for the pursuit of independent policies, the eradication of the causes of international tension and the elimination of force in the settlement of international disputes, remain fundamental”.
More than ever, a new, unimaginable and unprecedented challenge has emerged. The COVID-19 pandemic ravaged economies all over the world, including NAM countries. Many past gains on economic and social development have been erased. There will be more debts, economic inequalities and poverty. The least developed as well as developing countries will suffer the most.
NAM member countries are full of economic potential such as oil and gas, minerals, and fertile lands for agricultural and human resource. About 55 per cent of the world’s population lives in NAM member countries. As a group, it is a force in the UN. The movement has a huge task ahead to come out with ideas and practical workable action-oriented programmes to help post-recovery. It can use past experiences in dealing with economic and social development issues to work together with developed countries.
NAM must remain cohesive and steadfast in its struggle. The movement has all the potential to be a powerful, positive, and relevant political force that could influence world developments and international politics for the betterment of its member countries and the world. That will ensure its continued relevance to the changing geopolitics.
