NAM Full Form

The NAM is an international organization of 120 developing nations that stand in nonalignment with significant power blocs. It was founded in 1961 in Belgrade, former Yugoslavia, by then-Indian Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, and former Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito. Many emerging countries in Asia and Africa sensed the need for a solid movement to secure peace and prosperity for all countries after WWII and the decolonization process.

The fall of colonialism and the end of the Cold War necessitated more collaboration across the Global South. It’s worth noting that during the Cold War, the phrase “third world” was used to describe countries that were not allied with either of the two major blocs.

What is NAM?

The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is an international body committed to promoting developing nations’ concerns and ambitions. The Non-Aligned Movement had 120 members in the early twenty-first century. The Non-Aligned Movement arose in the aftermath of World War II, as a wave of decolonization swept the globe. The participants at the 1955 Bandung Conference (Asian-African Conference), many of whose nations had recently obtained independence, advocated for “abstention from the use of collective defense structures to suit the particular interests of any of the large powers.” During the Cold War, they claimed that developing-world nations should refrain from allying with either of the two superpowers (the US and the USSR) instead of uniting in favour of national self-determination against all kinds of imperialism and colonialism.

The nations of the Non-Aligned Movement must not be members of a multilateral military alliance (such as NATO) or have signed a bilateral military pact with one of the “great powers” if it was “deliberately established in the context of Great Power disputes” as a condition of membership. Nonalignment, on the other hand, does not imply that a state should stay inert or even neutral in international affairs. On the contrary, since its inception, the stated goal of the Non-Aligned Movement has been to offer developing nations a voice and promote their joint engagement in international affairs.

One of the Non-Aligned Movement’s problems in the twenty-first century has been to rethink its identity and purpose in the post-Cold War period. Nevertheless, the movement has continued to promote international cooperation, multilateralism, and national self-determination, while simultaneously speaking out against the world economic order’s injustices.

Background of NAM

During the Cold War, the Non-Aligned Movement was founded, partly on the initiative of then-Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito, as a group of countries that did not want to publicly identify themselves either with the US or the Soviet Union, preferring to stay independent or neutral. The core concept for the organization was conceived in 1955 during talks at the Asia-Africa Bandung Conference in Indonesia. From the 5th to the 12th of June 1961, a preparation conference for the First NAM Summit Conference was held in Cairo, Egypt.

Participants at this conference addressed the aims of a nonalignment policy, which were established as membership requirements. The following were the items:

• The country should have chosen or exhibited signs of adopting an independent policy based on the coexistence of States with various political and social systems and nonalignment
• The country in question should be a consistent supporter of national independence movements
• A multinational military alliance formed in Great Power confrontations should not include the country
• Suppose a nation has a bilateral military agreement with a Great Power or a regional defence pact member
• In that case, the agreement or contract should not be made in the context of a Great Power confrontation
• If it has given over military bases to a foreign power, it should not have done so amid a Great Power confrontation

In September 1961, the first NAM Summit Conference was held in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

Treaty Objectives

NAM’s goal has been to “establish an autonomous route in international politics that does not result in member States becoming puppets in major geopolitical contests.” The right to independent judgment, the fight against imperialism and neo-colonialism, and the use of moderation in dealings with all major nations are identified as three fundamental aspects that have shaped its approach. At the moment, another objective is to make it easier to restructure the international economic system.

NAM in Cold War Era

• Apartheid

 The scourge of apartheid was widespread in African nations such as South Africa, and it was on the agenda of the NAM from the beginning. The government of South Africa was warned against the discriminatory practices of apartheid during the 2nd NAM summit in Cairo.

• Disarmament

The Non-Aligned Movement has consistently called for the preservation of peace, the end of the weapons race, and the peaceful coexistence of all nations. India presented a draft resolution to the United Nations General Assembly proclaiming that the use of nuclear weapons would be a violation of the UN Charter and a crime against humanity and hence should be forbidden.

• UNSC changes

 Since its formation, NAM has advocated for UNSC reforms and an end to the dominance of the United States and the Soviet Union. It desired that third-world nations be represented in the UNSC to be more democratic. At the 17th NAM summit in Venezuela, members reaffirmed the same demand.

• Failed to address regional tensions

 During the Cold War, the regional rivalry between India and China, as well as India and Pakistan, heightened tensions in South Asia. The NAM failed to prevent regional tensions, contributing to the region’s nuclearization.

India’s Position

1. As the founding and largest member of the NAM, India was a prominent participant in NAM meetings until the 1970s. However, India’s ties to the former Soviet Union caused uncertainty among smaller members. As a result, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) weakened, and tiny states gravitated to either the United States or the Soviet Union.
2. As the USSR disintegrated further, a unipolar international order headed by the United States emerged. India’s New Economic Policy and bias toward the United States have generated doubts about the country’s commitment to nonalignment.
3. The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, did not attend the 17th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Venezuela in 2016, making him only the second head of state to do so.
4. Furthermore, in a unipolar world, NAM continued to lose importance for India, especially when the founding members failed to assist India amid crises. Ghana and Indonesia, for example, took strongly pro-China attitudes during the 1962 War with China. During the 1965 and 1971 conflicts, Indonesia and Egypt supported Pakistan and were anti-India.
5. In particular, India and most other NAM nations have profited from and incorporated themselves into the liberal economic order to varying degrees.

Conclusion

Despite the unmet aims and several new problems, the Non-Aligned Movement played an essential role in support of Third World countries fighting for independence at the time. It showed remarkable solidarity with humanity’s most worthy ambitions. Moreover, it made an undeniable contribution to the victory in the war for national independence and decolonization, garnering significant diplomatic clout as a result.