1955-1970
History
•At the Bandung Conference (Asian-African Conference), in
1955, 29 Asian and African countries identified themselves as neutral
–Adopted a 10-point “declaration on the promotion of world
peace and cooperation,” based on the UN Charter and the Five Principles of
Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru
•Non-Aligned Movement was formed in 1961
•Five founding members of NAM: Nehru of India, Tito of
Yugoslavia, Sukarno of Indonesia, Nasser of Egypt and Nkrumah of Ghana
•Neutrality was not specific to the Cold War
•Over 100 states were involved throughout the 20th Century
Non-Alignment in Europe
•Almost no European countries were nonaligned, as the Iron
Curtain and spheres of influence were centered in Europe
•Yugoslavia
–After rejecting Soviet influence and being expelled from
Cominform, Tito’s Yugoslavia began receiving aid from the West
–However, after Stalin’s death, Tito realized that he would
have to choose between allying with the West and giving up his single-party
dictatorship, or reconciling with Khrushchev
–Neither choice appealed to Tito, so he became a founder of
the nonaligned movement as an alternative
Non-Alignment in Asia
•Most of Asia was represented at the Bandung Conference
•Being a key organizer of the Bandung Conference, India’s
leader, Jawaharlal Nehru, emerged as a non-alignment leader
•Indonesia and Malaysia also emerged as non-alignment
country leaders
•Asia, along with other Non-Alignment Movement countries,
tried to shift the global political agenda away from the Cold War to the needs
of their poorer countries
Non-Alignment in India
•After independence, India’s relations with the United
States diminished substantially
•India rejected U.S. capitilism, and created a series of
five year plans, with a very small private sector
•As a result of the economic disputes between India and the
U.S., India refused to join the U.S. alliance in the Cold War
•Because India did not fully support the Soviet Union
either, India became an organizer of the Bangung Conference
•Indian leader, Jawaharlal Nehru went to the Bandung
Conference with five objectives:
–Peace and Disarmament
–Self-Determination
–Economic Equality
–Cultural Equality
–Multilaterism through strong support of the UN
The Third World
•The term Third World country was created during the Cold
War
•During the Cold War, a Third World country referred to a
country that was part of the Non-Alignment Movement
•Many Asian countries were labeled Third World countries
because of their political position in the Cold War
•During the 1960s and 1970s countries part of the Third
World used their majority vote in the United Nations to shift discussions and
attention away from the Cold War, and to their countries’ needs.
Africa and the Non-Alignment Movement
•The majority of the present-day members of the Non-Aligned
Movement are small African states that desire independence from the world’s
superpowers
•Many of these nations joined soon after gaining
self-determination from Western powers as a means of maintaining their autonomy
and freedom
•Eleven of the original twenty-five members of the
Non-Alignment Movement were African states. Fears of further colonialism or
future dependence on either the Western or communist blocs encouraged these
nations to join the movement which encourages equality, non-aggression, and
peaceful coexistence.
•Although the threat of war was the dominant theme at the
original summit meeting in 1961, the movement gained respect and influence as nations
were given the right of “independent judgment” so that they could restructure
the world economic order as well as prevent imperialism from permeating their
independent societies.
•The main African nations involved in the Non-Alignment
Movement were Egypt, South Africa, and Ghana.
Egyptian Involvement In The Non-Alignment Movement
•Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser played a major role
in structuring the movement and its policies. He led a coup in 1952 that
overthrew the royal family, and took power himself in 1954. Nasser made Egypt a
one-party socialist state in 1956 and changed his title to president.
•As part of the movement to eliminate colonialism, Nasser
decided to nationalize the Suez Canal in 1956, and caused great global unrest.
The British and French required the canal as a passage from Europe to Asia, and
Nasser intervened due to the British denying funding for the Aswan High Dam,
and the retaliation from these nations led to UN intervention. Nasser then
turned to the Soviet Union to gain the funds necessary to complete the dam. By
seeking economic assistance from either power, Nasser created future
expectations of the Non-Aligned Movement and its members. Although the movement
defined its intentions, the members were not strictly bound to the policies,
and many of them used realpolitik to achieve their own goals.
Other Nations And The Non-Alignment Movement
•South Africa became a member of the Non-Alignment Movement
when it severed ties to the British Commonwealth in 1961 and consolidated the
apartheid system. The Commonwealth opposed the apartheid system in South
Africa, making the Non-Aligned Movement a justified means to end the
relationship between the two nations.
•Iran had been under the economic control of Britain and Russia
throughout the nineteenth century. The Non-Alignment Movement reduced ties with
these superpowers, but Iran continued to receive some economic aid from the
United States because of the American’s deep interest in the Iranian oil
industry.
•Kwame Nkrumah led the non-violent Convention People’s Party
and was instrumental in helping Ghana gain independence from Great Britain in
1957. Nkrumah became the president of independent Ghana and fought for the
policy of Africanization. Ghana became a republic in 1960, and was a founding
member of the Non-Alignment Movement.
The Impact of Non-Alignment
•The Nonalignment Movement encountered several difficulties
that made it less effective:
–All members agreed to the ten-point declaration and were
against bloc politics, but they were by no means unified in their foreign
policies or goals
–Many member-nations were from the Third World, and had
little sway in international affairs compared to the powerful blocs
–The nonalignment movement succeeded in being an alternative
to the bloc system and a means of avoiding the influence of the blocs
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