ORIGIN OF NON-ALIGNMENT
The first statement on non-alignment was made by late Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. He made the statement on September 2, 1946 in a radio broadcast. Non-Alignment is an international movement formed by different countries and mostly Third World countries in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, Europe and so on. According to Nehru during his broadcast, he said ‘we decide as far as possible to keep away from the power of politics by groups, aligned against one another, which led in the past to World Wars and which may again lead to disaster.
Other founding fathers of this non-align movement were Josef Tito of Yugoslavia, Egyptian President, Gamai Abdel Nasser. A meeting was held on the 18th and 19th of June to discuss the rising tension in the World and the effect of this to World peace and security. This meeting which attracted about 25 States held in Yugoslavia eventually saw the formation of non-alignment. Presently we have 113 nations making up the movement.
MEANING OF NON-ALIGNMENT
Non-alignment can be defined as non-commitment of a nation to either the East or West on international issues. Non-alignment policy says that we should not side or be pre-committed to any of the parties involved in a war. We should only try to see whether the issue can be resolved. Nigeria’s policy towards the great powers was based on the principle of Non-alignment, according to Tafawa Balewa. The essence of this doctrine is seen to him as ‘freedom of judgment of important international issues on the basis of Nigeria’s national interest and that of World peace.
Furthermore, Non-alignment can be seen as the ability and freedom to take action on international, political, economic and social issues on the basis of justice.
EVALUATION
- Trace the origin of Non-alignment
- What is Non-alignment?
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF NON-ALIGNMENT
- Eradication of all forms of colonialism, racial discrimination, neo-colonialism, especially in the Third World countries.
- Opposition to nuclear weapons and stopping the arms race and supporting all effort aimed at disarmament
- Dispute Resolution: To support peaceful resolution of national and international disputes
- 4 To safeguard their national independence and sovereign equality
- Division of the World: Opposition to the division of the World into antagonistic power blocs. The West represent U.S.A. and Western European countries (Capitalism), the East represents Russia and Eastern European counties (Communism).
- To participate in the making of global decisions affecting our future
- Political and Economic Goal: To pursue their own political, economic and social development without foreign interference.
- To adhere to the tenets of the U.N.O and the Commonwealth
- To use the U.NO. as a platform to attack colonialism and apartheid policy in South Africa.
EVALUATION QUESTION
- Identify five aims and objectives of Non-alignment.
- Discuss apartheid policy
GENERAL EVALUATION
- State five achievements of Non-alignment
- Why did Nigeria adopt the principle of Non-alignment?
WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT
- The first statement on Non-alignment was made by (a) American President (b) Late British Prime Minister (c) Late Indian Prime Minister
- Non-alignment is all about (a) neutrality (b) commitment (c) antagonistic attitude
- A.M stands for (a) Nigeria Align Movement (b) Non-Align Movement (c) National Align Movement
- Which of the following countries is among the Third World countries? (a) Russia (b) Egypt (c) Britain
- One of the following is the aim and objective of Non-alignment (a) peaceful resolution of conflict (b) opposition to nuclear weapons (c) promotion of conflict
THEORY
- Define Non-alignment.
- State 4 aims and objective of Non-alignment
See also