Non-Aligned Movement

The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) has shaped global debates on just and equitable relations among states; this was particularly so during the Cold War era. In the period of decolonization, it has supported liberation and anti-imperialist struggles in Asia, Africa, and Latin America and has contributed, to a considerable extent, to their international recognition in the framework of the United Nations Organization. The movement has been trying to uphold its philosophy—a commitment to independence, equality in relations between states, and peaceful coexistence—even after the end of the superpower rivalry of the Cold War. Non-alignment is defined, by the NAM, as expression of an independent policy of a state in all its ramifications, domestically as well as internationally. As a consequence, it rejects a country's adherence to any great power alliance.

The Asian-African Conference held in April 1955 in Bandung, Indonesia, paved the ground for the idea of “non-alignment.” Leaders from 29 countries, including Premier Zhou Enlai of the People's Republic of China, the prime minister of India, and the president of Egypt, adopted the Ten Principles of Bandung, which reaffirm the basic purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, such as sovereign equality of all nations, territorial integrity, noninterference in internal affairs, and the peaceful settlement of international disputes.

These principles became the main goals of the movement of non-aligned countries that was founded at a summit conference in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in September 1961. Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia, Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Jawaharlal Nehru of India, Ahmed Sukarno of Indonesia, and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana were among the leaders from 25 African and Asian countries who had agreed, from the very beginning, that this grouping of states should understand itself as a movement, but not as an intergovernmental organization with an elaborate statute.

The membership of the movement has continuously expanded and stands now at 120: 53 states from Africa, 40 from Asia (including Palestine), 26 from Latin America and the Caribbean, and 1 from Europe (Belarus). In addition, 18 countries (including China) and 10 organizations, mostly of intergovernmental [Page 1249]nature, enjoy observer status. Decisions are made by consensus, whereby this requirement is also understood as being met if an overwhelming majority supports a proposal. The structure of the movement, as it evolved over the five decades of its existence, favors informal procedures. The chair rotates among the countries hosting the summit conference of the NAM. So far, 15 such meetings have taken place in intervals of mostly 3 years. At the meeting of the foreign ministers in New Delhi in 1997, the “troika” of the NAM, consisting of the former, incumbent, and future chairs, has been added as an additional forum. Other structures for the coordination of the member states’ policies are, inter alia, the ministerial-level Coordinating Bureau (COB), the Group of Non-Aligned Countries in the Security Council (Caucus), and the Joint Coordination Committee (JCC), tasked with the cooperation of the NAM with the Group of 77 (G-77), the largest grouping of developing countries at the United Nations (with 131 members).

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