FEATURES NEWS THE RISING NEPAL (DAILY)

By C D Bhatta

WHILE Yugoslavia, one of the main founding members of the non-aligned movement (NAM), ceased to exist in the world map replaced by Serbia and Montenegro, the leaders from 114 member countries are meeting in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur for the 13th NAM summit, from 20- 24 February, 2003. This is, in fact, a significant moment for the movement. Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand will lead the Nepalese delegation to the summit.

Long Road

The movement, which was established in 1961 with the initiation of Tito, Nehru and et al in 1960s, has travelled a long road with only 25 members in the beginning. Nepal has been participating actively since its very inception.

The most significant result of the World War II was the emergence of nations with independent foreign policies not dictated by the superpowers, the USA and Russia, then the USSR. These very independent nations across Africa and Asia have had a working philosophy of not becoming a member of any blocs run by the capitalists and communists. Also, another important characteristics of these nations was that most of them were newly independent either from the colonial rule or newly emerged states with the resultant effect of the Second World War and hence were new in the international scene. Therefore, there was a sort of coexistence in the socio-political ideologies amongst them.

The Bangdung, Indonesia, conference of 1955, where thirty countries from Asia and Africa assembled and expressed their desire to be united in a single thread to deal with matters in the international affairs, was a milestone in the history of NAM. China, India and Indonesia played a key role in the meeting, despite having different political ideologies. Hence, in order to come out of the ideological and political barriers, they have drafted minimum guidelines of understanding, which is commonly known as five principles (Panchasheel) that is, mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity, non-aggression, non-interference in each other's affairs, equality and mutual benefit and peaceful co-existence. Its main objectives at that time were to liberate countries from the colonial Raj and to ward off the threat emanating from the superpower rivalries. These very principles today have become the main foreign policy guidelines for many countries.

By and large, today, both of these situations do not exist in the international politics and NAM is merely a legacy left by the Cold War and can best be defined as the international relations of pre -1989 eras. Those were the days when these types of summits and groupings used to have an underlying importance in the international affairs while there was an eminent threat of war stemming from the two global superpower competitions. Today, though, there is significantly a vicious threat of war in the world, but the rationality and dimensions of international relations and the nature of would-be war have either completely changed or taken different direction in the light of America becoming only one unchallenged superpower in the world and tentacles of terrorism spreading all over the world.

Also, the fall of communist regime and its allies such as Warsaw Pact, and globalisation of world affairs to a single focal point have significantly undermined these types of alignment, nevertheless, the scene in the international affairs mainly after 9/11 and the global economic dimensions in the Third World countries and also domination of world economy by a number of western powers and multinational companies to some extent, force these nations to go for this type of alliance. Though today, rarely heard or debated in the academic circle, nevertheless, in its hey days, NAM played an important role in harmonising the international relations and it reverberated the corridor of diplomatic community in one way or the other. To say that, however, the current NAM summit will have an important aspect in the world politics while America and the United Kingdom are set to attack Iraq and the whole world is against the idea of war.

Nevertheless, paradoxically, the movement needs significant defining, as it was completely a political animal of bipolar world and will not have any role to play or significance in the present day context.
As some would say that it would help to get Third World countries and other developing world to get into the process of globalisation and free trade movement but which, in its practical sense, is not going to materialise from the present platform where it stands now. What it needs is complete overhauling and new definition in order to face the daunting challenges of the contemporary international relations.

Another conundrum with NAM in the present context is that the reality of 1960s and that of today is completely different even amongst the members of the movement in terms of economic, political and ideological development. Some of them have become economic powerhouse and others have become politically very strong in the international scene. Also, to our dismay, some of the members are shattered and battered by intra-state or inter-state conflicts' and economically and politically very feeble. Therefore, at the outset, against this diversity, the existence of NAM becomes only meaningful when it tries to hammer out the existing anomalies.

Forum

Technically, the conventional role of NAM has already been faded away and if it is really to be kept alive as an active tool of diplomacy, the leaders of the member countries should come out with new vision such as whilst there are negotiations at the international levels related to trade, that is, issues related to World Trade Organisations (WTO) that concern most of the contemporary world and which, as of now is dominated either by the developed countries, member of the OECD's or dictated by lobbying of multinational companies, NAM should come out and defend the interests of its member states, which definitely will resuscitate the movement as an instrument of international economic diplomacy. Secondly, NAM should be developed into an organisational forum and be renamed, if it really is to survive in any form.

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