The Non-Aligned Movement
Discover the Non-Aligned Movement — the coalition of developing nations that refused to choose sides in the Cold War and championed an independent path in global politics.
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) was born from the refusal of newly independent nations to be pawns in the Cold War chess game between the United States and Soviet Union. Founded at the Belgrade Conference of 1961 by leaders including Yugoslavia's Tito, India's Nehru, Egypt's Nasser, Ghana's Nkrumah, and Indonesia's Sukarno, the movement represented the 'Third World's' assertion of its right to chart its own course.
The movement's principles, articulated at the Bandung Conference of 1955, emphasized sovereignty, territorial integrity, non-aggression, and non-interference — values particularly resonant for nations that had recently emerged from colonial rule. At its peak, NAM included over 100 member states, representing a majority of the world's population. It provided a platform for developing nations to coordinate positions on decolonization, economic development, and disarmament.
The movement's practical impact was limited by internal divisions and the realities of Cold War power. Many 'non-aligned' nations in practice leaned toward one superpower or the other. After the Cold War ended, NAM struggled to find a clear purpose. Yet its core insight — that developing nations should not sacrifice their interests to great-power rivalries — remains relevant in an era of renewed competition between the United States and China.