During the height of the Cold War, newly independent nations of Asia, Africa, and Latin America rejected joining either of the two rival superpower military blocs (USA or USSR). Instead, they established the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to preserve their national independence, promote world peace, and fight colonialism.
Non-Alignment: A foreign policy doctrine whereby a nation refrains from joining military alliances (such as NATO, SEATO, or Warsaw Pact) led by superpowers, while exercising an independent judgment on international issues based on truth, justice, and national interest.
What Non-Alignment is NOT:
The post-WWII world was divided into two hostile armed blocs: Western Capitalist Bloc (led by USA) and Eastern Communist Bloc (led by USSR). Joining either bloc meant risking involvement in a catastrophic third world war.
Newly decolonized Asian and African countries had suffered under European domination for centuries. They refused to surrender their newly acquired independence by becoming military puppets of superpowers.
Developing nations required peace, financial capital, technology, and economic assistance from both blocs without attaching political or military strings.
Held at Bandung, Indonesia in April 1955, attended by 29 Afro-Asian nations. It adopted the Ten Principles of Bandung, serving as the immediate forerunner to the founding of NAM.
The Non-Aligned Movement was built by three principal visionaries:
Supported strongly by: Sukarno (President of Indonesia) and Kwame Nkrumah (President of Ghana).
First NAM Summit (1961): Formally established at the landmark Belgrade Summit in Yugoslavia in September 1961, attended by 25 member nations.
First articulated in the preamble to the Sino-Indian Agreement on Tibet signed on 29 April 1954 by Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai.
