Dr Satish Misra
The Non Aligned Movement (NAM), consisting of 120 countries and 17 observers, is often described by a section of media and commentators as out of place and out of sync with the changing world. Its relevance ended with the liberation and independence of the colonial countries in Asia and Africa and end of the cold war, they pronounce loud from various international forums.
In this background, the 16th summit of the Non Aligned Movement (NAM), held in Tehran on August 30-31, may turn out to be a watershed. It concluded with a declaration that may revive the spirit of the four decade old movement.
The summit’s theme at the Tehran summit was ‘Lasting Peace through Joint Global Governance’ which was a timely call for ushering in much delayed changes in the international order before it becomes too late.
Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei, who called the UN Security Council a “flagrant form of dictatorship” and termed the US and its western allies as “bullies”, was not wrong as they have been controlling the levers of powers for over six decades.
Stating that the control room of the world should not be managed by the “dictatorial will of a few western countries”, the Iranian leader went on to point out the anomalies in the present global governance structures. “The UN Security Council has an illogical, unjust and completely undemocratic structure and mechanism. This is a flagrant form of dictatorship, which is antiquated and obsolete and whose expiry date has passed.”
Khamenei’s words may sound belligerent but were definitely an expression of the prevailing ground realities of the present global order as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh echoed the same sentiments in his statement at the summit.
“Today’s structures for global governance remain driven by the power equations of the past”, the Prime Minister said and added that “they have proved inadequate in dealing with the economic and political crisis of our present”.
Notwithstanding the pronouncements and statements made by the representatives including the head of states or chief executives of 120 countries, Tehran summit would be remembered for its reminder to the US-led western world that time has come for a hard rethink on the need for a new global security and economic architecture.
NAM, being after the United Nations the biggest forum of world opinion, stands at a crucial historic juncture. The present global order is facing considerable strain as new powers like China, India, Brazil, Russia, South Africa, Argentina, Indonesia and others are emerging. The West Asia and North African region is changing very fast as democracy begins to strike roots here. People’s aspirations are on the rise in a region which has vast reservoirs of petroleum and natural gas.
At the same time, era of unquestioned US supremacy is on its way out. The world is increasingly becoming multi-polar. Europe is also going through a transformation with Germany acquiring a new role in international and regional affairs.
The ongoing global economic crisis, which has seriously affected the economic fortunes of Europe and the United States, has also opened new opportunities for the developing world. If NAM could rise to the occasion then it could well emerge as a forum for promoting global peace and security for ensuring balanced growth and sustained development.
But for that to happen, the developing world, largely represented in the NAM, would have to put its act together as in words of the Indian Prime Minister “Developing countries can be drivers of global growth.”
The NAM’s collective leadership needs to focus on settling differences and disputes among member countries. Syria poses one of the most serious challenges to the movement. The movement should take a stand on the ongoing crisis in Syria that conforms to universally accepted principles. If NAM could take a lead in getting the crisis resolved through peaceful means then the NAM would have reestablished its credibility.
Similarly, Iran and Saudi Arabia need to sink their differences as these two regional powers could become a potent force for ensuring peace and development not only in the region but beyond it to South Asia.
The NAM could be an effective forum for evolving strategies to develop synergies among the member countries for promoting economic and technological cooperation. Endowed with rich renewable energy resources, the developing world could become a dynamo of the global growth provided NAM could put in place mechanisms for using intellectual and financial resources to develop renewable energy technologies that get very little attention in the developed world.
Asia and Africa are going to be the engines of economic growth in this century as counties of these two continents are going to reap the demographic dividends in years ahead. This region is also endowed with mineral and other resources. The NAM, which has a huge representation from the two continents, is eminently suited to be the forum for change.
The NAM could act as a catalyst in helping to evolve member countries to emerge as knowledge societies. Traditional knowledge, derived from ancient civilisations, is another area which is waiting to be exploited for the common usage.
It is high time that NAM took active lead in the evolution of representative, credible and effective global governance structures which would effectively mean transformation of UN Security Council, IMF and the World Bank. Without proper and adequate representation of the developing world in these institutions, global peace and stability is impossible to achieve.
Therefore, the NAM leaders should actively think about setting up a permanent secretariat for the movement which could take a long term view. This would also help in pursuing its goals effectively.
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