Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is an international organization comprising 120 member countries and 17 observer countries, founded in 1961 to promote the independence of developing nations and advocate for neutrality and global peace. Established in the context of the post-colonial world and the Cold War, NAM arose from the need to prevent newly independent nations from being drawn into military alliances with superpowers, thereby safeguarding their sovereignty and interests. The movement's formation was influenced by the Bandung Conference of 1955, where many Asian and African nations recognized their shared challenges amidst the legacies of colonization.
NAM operates on a rotational leadership structure, where each member state takes turns hosting summits that address key issues such as international economics, peacekeeping, and equality among nations. Member states are committed to neutrality in military conflicts and have an equal voice in policymaking, allowing them to collectively pursue goals like economic cooperation and human rights advocacy. By fostering solidarity among developing nations, NAM seeks to enhance their global standing and reshape international structures to better accommodate their needs. This grassroots collaboration emphasizes the importance of mutual respect and political diversity among its members, supporting a vision of a more equitable world.
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Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is an international organization of 120 member countries, 17 observer countries, and 10 observer organizations. The NAM defends the independence of developing countries, promotes neutrality and global peace, and pushes for equality between nations. This organization formed in 1961 as a response to major shifts in international policies. Following two world wars, many formerly colonized nations gained their independence. To prevent future exploitation by larger countries, and to avoid becoming embroiled in the Cold War, many of these newly independent countries formed the NAM.
The NAM has a rotational structure that allows each member state to be a temporary leader. Delegates meet regularly in a new host nation. During their summits, the delegates discuss matters of international economics, politics, peacekeeping, equality, and other topics. NAM member states, sworn to remain neutral in military conflicts between other factions, each have an equal vote in NAM policy making.
Background
The NAM began in response to several global changes in the middle of the twentieth century. One change was the end of imperialism and colonialism, practices that had long denied independence to many countries and peoples. Another change was a re-evaluation of militarism and the alliances and prejudices between countries that had contributed to two enormously destructive world wars.
The history of modern imperialism can be traced back hundreds of years. When European sailors landed in North America in the 1490s, they created a spirit of exploration and colonization. Throughout the coming centuries, mostly European powers began sending their forces to new lands to gain valuable territories and resources. In many cases, the colonizers dominated the native people and frequently brought war, disease, and oppression.
The quest for empires grew still further in the 1700s, with Britain and France taking the lead in an often-bloody contest to control as many foreign lands as possible. Later, other countries, including Germany, Japan, and the United States, became active in building empires. By the twentieth century, a handful of international powers claimed sovereignty over a large percentage of the world.
The spirit of imperialism and colonization had gone together with militarism, or a willingness to build and use large armies to promote national interests. Top imperial powers, notably Britain, France, and Germany, raised armed forces and created complex military alliances to solidify their own power. Crises in the early 1900s sent these countries, and many others, into World War I (1914–1918). Lingering hostility then contributed to an even more destructive World War II (1939–1945).
By the end of World War II, the great empires had been greatly battered and weakened. Battles and treaties alike altered the traditional power structures of Europe and many other continents. Just as importantly, the reality of the increasing horrors of war shifted global attitudes away from conquest and colonies toward attempts to create peace and equity.
The great powers surrendered most of their colonial claims, giving long-overdue independence to hundreds of groups of people worldwide. These newly freed people were left with the challenge of stabilizing their countries as well as crafting new international policies. These tasks were seriously complicated by a new worldwide struggle known as the Cold War. The Cold War, a political disagreement between democratic and communist alliances, threatened to lead to another cataclysmic world war.
Overview
The idea for the NAM originated in 1955 at the Bandung Conference in Indonesia. There, delegates from Asian and African nations—many of which had recently gained their independence—discussed their futures. The delegates felt that their countries had much in common. Many had been hampered by centuries of colonization. Some were impoverished or had unstable governments.
The delegates were also deeply concerned by the developments of the Cold War. Two international superpowers, the United States representing democracy and the Soviet Union representing communism, had reached an impasse. Their search for allies and struggle to prevent their opponents from expanding led to global tension and an ever-growing threat of nuclear war.
The Bandung delegates felt that their countries had little to gain from attempting to ally themselves with "the big powers." Rather, they should create a third, separate faction that would attempt to avoid war and protect themselves from any new attempts at exploitation by stronger countries. Many delegates met in Cairo, Egypt, in June of 1961 to design the new organization.
In September of 1961, in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, the NAM held its first conference. It was led by Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito, Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Ghanaian president Kwame Nkrumah, and Indonesia president Sukarno. Since that first meeting, the NAM has expanded to include 120 members, as of 2025. These member countries hail mainly from Asia, Africa, and South America. In addition, 17 other countries and 10 major international organizations, including the United Nations and the African Union, serve as non-member "observers."
The member states share some important commonalities. To join the NAM, a country must not have created military alliances that might pull it into conflicts between the Cold War superpowers. A country must have policies that accept and respect social and political differences between people. Finally, a country must also support the idea that nations should be independent and that forced colonialism is a detriment to human freedom.
Unlike most other international organizations, the NAM does not have a permanent leadership committee or a formal list of rules. Delegates determine the group's policies during summits every three years that take place in a different host country. The representatives of the host country serve as the temporary leaders of the NAM and the supervisors of the summit. The other delegates form different groups and committees, each with a specific purpose. Each member state has an equal vote, and majority votes are required to make or enact group decisions.
The research, activism, and policy making of the NAM encompass a wide range of goals. The main goals involve building cooperation between developing countries, helping them improve their standing in the world, and protecting them from unfair practices of more powerful countries. To pursue these goals, NAM delegates examine matters such as economic cooperation, human rights protection, and disarmament and peacekeeping initiatives. NAM groups are also known to push for restructuring of other organizations, such as the United Nations, to better reflect the needs of developing countries.
Bibliography
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