Non-Aligned Movement

The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is an international organization (group of countries) who do not want to be officially aligned with or against any major power bloc (group of countries). In 2024, the movement had 121 members and 27 observers.^[3]

Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)
Member countries   Observer countries
Coordinating Bureau	New York City, New York, U.S.
Membership[1]	121 members 27 observers
Leaders
• Principal decision- making organ	Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries[2]
• Chairperson	Yoweri Museveni
Establishment	1961 in Belgrade as the Conference of Heads of State of Government of Non-Aligned Countries
Website mnoal.org

The group was started in Belgrade in 1961. It was created by Yugoslavia's President, Josip Broz Tito, India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, Egypt's second President, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Ghana's first president Kwame Nkrumah, and Indonesia's first President, Sukarno. All five leaders believed that developing countries should not help either the Western or Eastern blocs in the Cold War. They also believed that developing countries should not be Capitalist or Communist, but should try to find a different way to help their people.

The Havana Declaration of 1979 said that the purpose of the organization is to help countries keep their "the national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of non-aligned countries" in their "struggle against Imperialism, Colonialism, Neocolonialism, Racism, and all forms of foreign aggression, occupation, domination, interference or hegemony as well as against great power and bloc politics."^[4] This means that they wanted to govern their countries without the main capitalist powers nor the major socialist states telling them how.

The countries of the Non-Aligned Movement are nearly two-thirds of the United Nations's members and 55% of the world population.

Secretaries-General

Between summits, the Non-Aligned Movement is run by the secretary-general elected at last summit meeting. As a considerable part of the movement's work is undertaken at the United Nations in New York, the chair country's ambassador to the UN is expected to devote time and effort to matters concerning the Non-Aligned Movement. 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.^[5]

Secretaries-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 (Stipe) Mesić		Croatian Democratic Union	1991
Branko Kostić		Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro	1991	1992
Dobrica Ćosić[source?]		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[6]	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		Combatant Clergy Association	2013	2016
Nicolás Maduro	Venezuela	United Socialist Party of Venezuela	2016	2019
Ilham Aliyev	Azerbaijan	New Azerbaijan Party	2019	2023

Members

Full Members^[7]

Member states of the Non-Aligned Movement (2024). Light blue states have observer status of the organizations.

1.  Afghanistan
2.  Algeria
3.  Angola
4.  Antigua and Barbuda
5.  Azerbaijan
6.  Bahamas
7.  Bahrain
8.  Bangladesh
9.  Barbados
10.  Belarus
11.  Belize
12.  Benin
13.  Bhutan
14.  Bolivia
15.  Botswana
16.  Brunei Darussalam
17.  Burkina Faso
18.  Burundi
19.  Cape Verde
20.  Cambodia
21.  Cameroon
22.  Central African Republic
23.  Chad
24.  Chile
25.  Colombia
26.  Comoros
27.  Congo
28.  Cuba
29.  Democratic Republic of the Congo
30.  Djibouti
31.  Dominica
32.  Dominican Republic
33.  Ecuador
34.  Egypt
35.  Equatorial Guinea
36.  Eritrea
37.  Eswatini
38.  Ethiopia
39.  Fiji
40.  Gabon
41.  Gambia
42.  Ghana
43.  Grenada
44.  Guatemala
45.  Guinea
46.  Guinea-Bissau
47.  Guyana
48.  Haiti
49.  Honduras
50.  India
51.  Indonesia
52.  Iran
53.  Iraq
54.  Ivory Coast
55.  Jamaica
56.  Jordan
57.  Kenya
58.  Kuwait
59.  Laos
60.  Lebanon
61.  Lesotho
62.  Liberia
63.  Libya
64.  Madagascar
65.  Malawi
66.  Malaysia
67.  Maldives
68.  Mali
69.  Mauritania
70.  Mauritius
71.  Mongolia
72.  Morocco
73.  Mozambique
74.  Myanmar
75.  Namibia
76.    Nepal
77.  Nicaragua
78.  Niger
79.  Nigeria
80.  North Korea
81.  Oman
82.  Pakistan
83.  Palestine
84.  Panama
85.  Papua New Guinea
86.  Peru
87.  Philippines
88.  Qatar
89.  Rwanda
90.  Saint Kitts and Nevis
91.  Saint Lucia
92.  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
93.  São Tomé and Príncipe
94.  Saudi Arabia
95.  Senegal
96.  Seychelles
97.  Sierra Leone
98.  Singapore
99.  Somalia
100.  South Africa
101.  South Sudan
102.  Sri Lanka
103.  Sudan
104.  Suriname
105.  Syria
106.  Tanzania
107.  Thailand
108.  Timor-Leste
109.  Togo
110.  Trinidad and Tobago
111.  Tunisia
112.  Turkmenistan
113.  Uganda
114.  United Arab Emirates
115.  Uzbekistan
116.  Vanuatu
117.  Venezuela
118.  Vietnam
119.  Yemen
120.  Zambia
121.  Zimbabwe

Former members

1.  North Yemen (1961–1990)^[8]
2.  Cyprus (1961–2004)^[9][10]
3.  Yugoslavia (1961–1992)^[11][12]
4.  South Yemen (1970–1990)^[8]
5.  Malta (1973–2004)^[10]
6.  Argentina (1973–1991)^[13][14]

Observers

The following countries and organizations have observer status:^[15]

Countries

1.  Argentina
2.  Armenia
3.  Bosnia and Herzegovina
4.  Brazil
5.  China
6.  Costa Rica
7.  Croatia
8.  El Salvador
9.  Kazakhstan
10.  Kyrgyzstan
11.  Mexico
12.  Montenegro
13.  Paraguay
14.  Russia^[16]
15.  Serbia
16.  Tajikistan
17.  Ukraine
18.  Uruguay
19.  Vatican City

Organisations

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

Members have, at various times, included: Yugoslavia, Argentina, SWAPO, Cyprus, Poland, and Malta. Brazil has never been a formal member of the movement, but shares many of the aims of Non-Aligned Movement and frequently sends observers to the Non-Aligned Movement's summits. 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. Additionally, 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,^[17] it has struggled to find relevance since the Cold War ended. After the breakup of Yugoslavia, a founding member, its membership was suspended^[18] 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. At the Summit of the Movement in Jakarta, Indonesia (September 1, 1992 – September 6, 1992) Yugoslavia was suspended or expelled from the Movement.^[19] The successor states of the SFR 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 Dominican Republic are the most recent entrants. The application of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Costa Rica were rejected in 1995 and 1998. Serbia has been suspended since 1992 due to the Serbian Government's involvement in the Bosnian War (officially as the Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia at the time).^[20]

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 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 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.^[21] The term non aligned movement appears first in the fifth conference in 1976, where participating countries are denoted as members of the movement.^[22]

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.^[17]

The founding fathers of the Non-aligned movement were: Sukarno of Indonesia, Jawaharlal Nehru of India, and 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.^[2] Some organizational basics were defined at the 1996 Cartagena Document on Methodology^[23] 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.^[23]

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":^[23]

• 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

Secretaries General of the NAM had included such diverse figures as Suharto, an authoritarian 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 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".^[24] 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.^[24]

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 and both organisations have a stated policy of peaceful cooperation, yet successes that the NAM has had in multilateral agreements tends to be ignored by the larger, western and developed nation dominated UN.^[25] African concerns about apartheid were linked with Arab-Asian concerns about Palestine^[25] and success of multilateral cooperation in these areas has been a stamp of moderate success. The Non-Aligned Movement has played a major role in various ideological conflicts throughout its existence, including extreme opposition to apartheid regimes and support of liberation movements in various locations including Zimbabwe and South Africa. The support of these sorts of movements stems from a belief that every state has the right to base policies and practices with national interests in mind and not as a result of relations to a particular power bloc. The Non-Aligned Movement has become a voice of support for issues facing developing nations and is still contains ideals that are legitimate within this context.

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,^[26] 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.^[27] 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,^[28] 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 globalisation 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.^[29]

Current activities and positions

Criticism of US policy

In recent years the US has become a target of the organisation. 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.^[30] The movement’s leaders have also criticised the American control over the United Nations and other international structures.

Self-determination of Puerto Rico

Since 1961, the group have supported the discussion of the case of Puerto Rico's self-determination before the United Nations. A resolution on the matter will be proposed on the XV Summit by the Hostosian National Independence Movement.^[31]

Self-determination of Western Sahara

Since 1973, the group have supported the discussion of the case of Western Sahara's self-determination before the United Nations.^[32] The Non-Aligned 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 parts, and remembered the responsibility of the United Nations on the Sahrawi issue.^[33]

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 globalisation, the debt burden, unfair trade practices, the decline in foreign aid, donor conditionalities, and the lack of democracy in international financial decision-making are cited as factors inhibiting development.^[34]

Reforms of the UN

The Non-Aligned 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 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.^[35]

South-south cooperation

Lately the Non-Aligned 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 document 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.^[36]

Working groups, task forces, committees^[37]

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

Summits

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

1. Belgrade, September 1–6, 1961
2. Cairo, October 5–10, 1964
3. Lusaka, September 8–10, 1970
4. Algiers, September 5–9, 1973
5. Colombo, August 16–19, 1976
6. Havana, September 3–9, 1979
7. New Delhi (originally planned for Baghdad), March 7–12, 1983
8. Harare, September 1–6, 1986
9. Belgrade, September 4–7, 1989
10. Jakarta, September 1–6, 1992
11. Cartagena de Indias, October 18–20, 1995
12. Durban, September 2–3, 1998
13. Kuala Lumpur, February 20–25, 2003
14. Havana, September 15–16, 2006
15. Sharm El Sheikh, July 11–16, 2009
16. Isfahan, August 26–31, 2012^[38]
17. Porlamar, September 13–18, 2016
18. Baku, October 25–26, 2019

A ministerial meeting takes place in between the conferences of Heads of State and Government in a country which is not the chair of the movement. The 2011 meeting is on Bali, Indonesia in May 2011.^[38]