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International
Relations-PSC 201
VU
LESSON
17
NON-ALIGNMENT
MOVEMENT
What
is Non-Alignment?
Many
writers have used the term non-alignment
to be synonymous to terms like
isolationism, non-
commitment,
neutrality, or non-involvement. Yet
for the student of IR, these
terms are not
inter-
changeable.
Isolationism implies adopting a
policy of aloofness; non-commitment
implies detachment
generally
in international relations; and
non-involvement implies detachment
from tensions
specifically
between
power blocs. Political neutrality
has the closest similarity to non-alignment.
While the former
implies
a specific context, the latter refers to
a broader and continuing international
situation.
Non-Alignment's
Implications
Non-Alignment
implies keeping out of alliances in
general and military pacts
in particular. Conceptually it is
not
meant to be a policy of passive
but of active involvement in the
struggle against imperial and
colonial
determination.
Non-Alignment is meant to be dynamic
and constructive rather than static
and negative.
Origin
of NAM
The
idea of non-alignment in international relations
was first conceived in 1955.
The founding members
of
the
movement were Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia,
Jawaharlal Nehru of India,
Abdul Nasir of Egypt
and
Ahmad
Sukarno of Indonesia. Now the Non-Aligned
Movement is a Movement of 115
members
representing
the interests and priorities of
developing countries. The
Movement has its origin in
the Asia-
Africa
Conference held in Bandung, Indonesia in
1955. The meeting was
convened upon the invitation
of
the
Prime Ministers of Burma, Ceylon,
India, Indonesia and Pakistan
and brought together leaders of
29
states,
mostly former colonies, from the
two continents of Africa and
Asia, to discuss common
concerns
and
to develop joint policies in
international relations. Prime
Minister Nehru, the acknowledged
senior
statesman,
along with Prime Ministers
Soekarno and Nasser, led the
conference.
At
the first NAM meeting, Third
World leaders shared their
similar problems of resisting the
pressures of
the
major powers, maintaining their
independence and opposing colonialism and
neo-colonialism, especially
western
domination.
The
criteria of NAM membership were as
follows:
1.
The country should have adopted an
independent policy based on the
coexistence of States
with
different
political and social systems
and on non-alignment or should be showing
a trend in favor
of
such a policy.
2.
The country concerned should be
consistently supporting the Movements for
National
Independence.
3.
The country should not be a
member of a multilateral military
alliance concluded in the context
of
Great
Power conflicts.
4.
If a country has a bilateral military
agreement with a Great Power, or is a
member of a regional
defense
pact, the agreement or pact should
not be one deliberately concluded in the
context of
Great
Power conflicts.
5.
If it has conceded military
bases to a Foreign Power the
concession should not have
been made in
the
context of Great Power
conflicts.
Reasons
for NAM's Growth
A
Nationalism:
Strong sense of nationalism amongst newly
independent Asian, African and
Latin
American
countries.
B
Anti-Colonial
Sentiments: Weary of colonial
powers, newly independent countries
sought means to
counter
their continuing influence.
C
Economic
Underdevelopment: Newly emerged countries
wanted to develop themselves rather
than
waste
resources by getting embroiled in Cold
War tensions.
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International
Relations-PSC 201
VU
D
Visionary
Leadership: the ability of towering
personalities of developing nations to
join hands with
other
nationalists.
E
Presence
of UN system: the presence of a collective
forum where newly emerged
countries could
meet
and voice their collective
concerns.
NAM's
Objectives
·
Formulation
of independent foreign policies
·
Economic
development by avoiding conflict and
military build-ups
·
Resistance
to neo-colonialism and imperialism
·
Strive
for world peace by opposing
war and nuclear
armament
·
Focus
domestically on development and social
welfare
NAM's
Institutional Structure
Standing
Committee: This
committee consists of 7 member
countries elected on the basis of
geographic
distribution,
on yearly rotation basis to
undertake preparatory work for the
yearly ministerial meeting
held
on
the eve of the UN General Assembly
session.
Coordinating
Bureau: The
Algiers Summit of 1973 recommended
establishing the Bureau
which
consisting
of 17 member states which
work in the intervening period
between Summits to
monitor
implementation
of decisions and
programs.
Council
of Ministers:
This
council consists of foreign ministers of
member states.
Council
of Heads:
Heads of states of all
countries which are members
of NAM are members of this
Council
News
Pool: The
Non-Aligned Press Agencies
Pool was established
following the Delhi Conference in
1983
to
facilitate dissemination of information
between member
states.
Relevant
Vocabulary
Formulation:
To
formulate or design a policy or an
organizational structure
Welfare:
Well
being
Embroiled:
Get
involved in
Bilateral:
involving
two parties
Suggested
Readings
Students
are advised to read the
following chapters to develop a better understanding
of the various
principals
highlighted in this hand-out:
Chapter
10 in `"A Study of International
Relations" by Dr. Sultan
Khan
Internet
Resources
In
addition to reading from the
textbook, please visit the
following web-pages for this
lecture, which
provide
useful and interesting information:
Background and History of NAM
NAM
Background and history
http://www.nam.gov.za/background/history.htm