One of the most thoughtful and useful initiatives taken up by leaders of the post-colonial world was in the form of the non-aligned movement. Initiated in 1961, this now has a membership of about 120 countries.
Eminent leaders like Nehru of India, Sukarno of Indonesia and Nasser of Egypt had the wisdom and the far-sightedness to see that amidst the emerging military alliances of the world dividing it, sadly, into two blocs, it was very important for the countries emerging from colonial rule with very important development needs to avoid getting trapped into the narrow confines of any bloc and to also escape the risks that came with becoming a junior partner of one of the big power blocks engaged in an intense rivalry with the other which could easily lead to very destructive wars ad proxy wars.
In fact even a leader supposed to be closer to the Soviet bloc, Tito of Yugoslavia, chose to become an important voice of the non-aligned movement.
Of course due to their many compulsions not all the members could adhere very strongly to all principles of the non-aligned movement. Nevertheless the strong principles of peaceful co-existence and avoiding rival military blocks/ power blocs provided an important guide-post to many countries to avoid getting into troublesome and dangerous entanglements.
However the compulsions created by indebtedness, trade deficit, economic dependence, structural injustices of an unequal world and other factors do not allow many non-aligned countries to have the kind of independence that they would like to exercise in foreign policy issues and other policy issues as well.
The non-aligned movement has taken some initiatives to reduce these problems without having any major impact.
This testifies also to some weaknesses of the non-aligned movement which must be admitted.
Despite the progress of the Non-Aligned Movement being far from optimal, the world is changing in complex ways that is imparting a strong new resonance to this movement.
As the rivalries involving the biggest military powers, including those having the most weapons of mass destruction, become more intense, an increasing number of people in the world have strong feelings that it is better and safer to maintain a cautious distance from big power rivalries for dominance and the destructive wars these can cause.
These feelings may not be immediately reflected in the policies of their governments. However with the passage of time, if these feelings continue to increase, then these will find democratic outlets and political forces, including parties, will emerge to take forward the idea that instead of finding highly suspect safety in military alliances of the NATO type, it is possible to find more and better safety in non-alignment.
In addition a non-aligned country is relatively much more unhindered in pursuing trade and economic cooperation opportunities, including longer-term agreements, which are considered more beneficial for their country by most people.
Hence if more countries decide eventually to opt for non-alignment, then the non-alignment movement can become stronger. Of course if along with this big power rivalries can also be reduced, then this will be all the better for world peace.
Bharat Dogra is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Protecting Earth for Children, Earth without Borders and A Day in 2071.
