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POLITICS: Non-Alignment Survives Despite End of Cold War

Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 7 2006 (IPS) - When the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) was launched in the early 1960s during the height of the U.S.-Soviet Cold War, it was the largest single political grouping of developing nations taking a unified stand at the United Nations.

But the Western world was sceptical of its credibility because it was perceived as seemingly pro-Soviet and implicitly anti-U.S. in its approach to global politics.

Junius Jayewardene, a former president of Sri Lanka and a one-time chairman of NAM, perhaps unwittingly reflected a Western view when he remarked in 1979 that “there are only two truly non-aligned countries in the world: the United States and the Soviet Union.”

All other countries, he pointed out, are “aligned” either to the one or the other.

When Cuba assumed the NAM chairmanship from Sri Lanka in September 1979, the New York Times laid down a strict editorial guideline in its coverage: that NAM under Cuba’s leadership should always be described as “the so-called Non-Aligned Movement.” And the reporters did.

The Times refused to concede that Fidel Castro was the leader of a truly “non-aligned” country credible enough to lead the politically-diverse Movement – even though one of the qualifications for NAM membership was the absence of foreign military bases or troops on native soil.

Cuba will once again take over the chairmanship of the 116-member NAM next week, with an ageing and ailing Castro at the helm. But in the absence of any exceptionally strong Soviet (now Russian) political and military ties, Cuba may now be more acceptable to the West and the Western mainstream media.

Since NAM was primarily a creation of the Cold War era, some Western political analysts have argued that the Movement should have died when the Cold War ended in the aftermath of the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989.

But an Asian diplomat points out that no such drastic measure was envisaged for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), which was also a creation primarily of the Cold War.

“If NAM has no reason to exist after the Cold War,” he argues, “so should be the fate of NATO.” But NATO, he says, has been strengthened, not diluted, since the end of the Cold War.

Mouin Rabbani, a political analyst and contributing editor to the Washington-based Middle East Report, says that NAM was never a homogenous group of states and much less an alliance.

“So, I think it would be wrong to dismiss it on account of its character as a group of diverse entities whose interests conflict as well as converge,” Rabbani told IPS.

Needless to say, he added, the relative weight and influence of NAM was stronger during the Cold War era, for a variety of reasons. It is also true that it has been a largely dormant and ineffective force since the Cold War ended.

“Nevertheless, I think it has the capacity to recoup at least some of its lost influence and role, and this in turn reflects the changing international situation, particularly one of growing global opposition to and increasingly outright rejection of U.S. policies towards the third world.”

As the prospects for a unipolar world continue to fray, it stands to reason that those blocs like, for example, NAM which stand for a different agenda will be in an improved position to press their agendas and concerns, he added.

An 88-page NAM declaration is expected to be adopted at the close of the summit in the Cuban capital Sep. 15.

The draft declaration, prepared primarily by Cuba and current chair Malaysia, covers a wide range of subjects, including political issues such as the Middle East peace process, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon, along with social and economic issues such as trade, South-South cooperation, international migration, drug trafficking and corruption.

But the only subject that has triggered a political dispute is the Middle East – primarily the recent invasion of Lebanon by Israel.

Singapore, a longstanding member of NAM, has expressed strong reservations over what it calls an “unbalanced and one-sided view” of the Lebanon war.

The draft expresses strong condemnation of the Israeli military aggression against Lebanon but fails to mention that the invasion was triggered by the actions of Hezbollah, including the abduction and kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers.

Ambassador Vanu Gopal Menon of Singapore told IPS that NAM would lose its credibility if it is not seen as being politically objective in its declaration.

Menon told a meeting of NAM’s Coordinating Bureau in New York last week: “We are sympathetic to the situation in Lebanon. We have been following closely and with deep concern the developments on the ground in Lebanon and have contributed in our own way to help the Lebanese people.”

“So there is no question of my delegation’s support for the rights of the Lebanese people. Equally, our support for the NAM and its principles and objectives is firm,” he added.

Menon also said that the “issues before us are salient.” NAM should have a view, he argued, “but this view has to be considered, objective, and reflect reality.”

However, he noted a “disturbing trend within the Non-Aligned Movement” – that it seems less inclined to listen to the views of all its members, much less consider their proposals. “We tried repeatedly to propose amendments to the text. However, we were not allowed to do so,” he added.

Asked if NAM had played any significant role in the Middle East peace process, Rabbani told IPS: “With specific respect to Palestine the NAM has, despite its internal contradictions and differences, in fact played a key historical role in placing the question of Palestine at the centre of the international agenda and providing international legitimacy to the Palestinian national movement.”

He said that the many achievements of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) at the United Nations during the 1970s, for example, would have been unthinkable without the critical contribution of NAM in this respect.

“While I do not think the NAM is currently – indeed has never been – in a position to take decisive measures to resolve the question of Palestine, I do think it can once again play an important role in placing this item on the international agenda and, not less importantly, influencing the manner in which this question is placed on the agenda,” Rabbani said.

Specifically, he pointed out, decolonisation has always been at the heart of NAM’s agenda.

And with the terminal end of the peace process, and growing opposition to U.S. intervention in the Middle East, as well as to Israeli policies in this region, the NAM could and may well seek to place the question of Palestine on the agenda in a manner that emphasises the importance of decolonisation as key to its resolution, instead of continuing to treat it as a standard conflict between two equal parties as has largely been the case since the early 1990s, he added.

Over time, this could have an important effect on the manner in which U.N. resolutions are formulated and adopted. “So there is I believe reason for some confidence or optimism in this respect,” he added.