Frederick Grimm: The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)

     During my research into the Yugoslav War, I learned of a phrase I had never heard of before: the Non-Aligned Movement.  As I mentioned during our past meeting, much of what I read was new to me.  I did not know the causes leading up to the Yugoslav War, I did not know which parties were involved, and I certainly did not realize the extent of damage caused by the conflict.  After finishing the reading, I was still very curious to find out what the Non-Aligned Movement was. 

     My few cursory readings piqued my interest in this organization.  The Non-Aligned Movement is essentially a group of nations that have publicly declared that they are not aligned with or against any of the major international superpowers.  The NAM has 120 member nations and 17 observer nations in its membership which represent a majority of the nations in the U.N. and over 55% of the world's population.  I was very surprised to learn this for several reasons.  First, how could I have never heard of an organization consisting of a majority of the world's population??  Second, I was very surprised that so many nations have publicly stated that they are not aligned with any of the major superpowers.  My initial hypothesis was that nations would claim an 'ally' in one of the major superpowers so they could have a defender in case of global conflict.  However, this is clearly not the case!  

     After further reading, I learned another interesting fact which greatly surprised me.  Yugoslavia had strong ties to the NAM because Josep Broz Tito helped to form the organization in 1961 with the leaders of India, Indonesia, Egypt, and Ghana.  Though the NAM was founded for several reasons, a few of the stated reasons were to:

• Respect for fundamental human rights and for the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

• Recognize the movements for national independence.
• Recognize the equality of all races and of the equality of all nations, large and small.

Given that Yugoslavia was one of the founding members, I was very surprised with the handling of the Yugoslav War.  The Yugoslav War serves as a stark contrast to the above reasons.  The movements for national independence by the member nations of Yugoslavia were not recognized, and the equality of the races and ethnicities of the citizens were certainly not recognized.  In retrospect, the Yugoslav War will be remembered for the war crimes and genocide committed.  Though Yugoslavia was one of the founding members of the NAM, it certainly seems that it departed from its initial goals.  Though Yugoslavia was expelled from the NAM after the war started, several of the resulting nations today have expressed interest in rejoining.  

Interested in learning about the NAM?  Read here: Non-Aligned Movement

The below are members that are in the Non-Aligned Movement:

-Frederick Grimm