(July 30, Tehran, Sri Lanka Guardian) With the 15th ministerial conference of the Non-Aligned nations underway in Tehran, the movement faces a testing time in proving its mettle as the world's developing countries are grappling with some of the gravest challenges resulting from the new global order. If the original intent of the movement was to provide developing countries with an alternative to aligning with either the Capitalist or Communist blocs during the Cold War, the unipolar world which the U.S. is currently trying to build makes NAM more necessary than ever.
NAM represents 118 countries with a dozen official observers. It accounts for nearly two-thirds of the UN members and more than 56 percent of the world population but the movement has hardly matched its size where a larger voice brings bigger responsibility. Part of this may be blamed on a perception that NAM might have lost its relevance after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
But U.S.' muscle-flexing to reinvent itself as the world’s only superpower has made the challenges of non-alignment more complex, requiring that its members make every effort to preserve, revitalize and strengthen the organization.
NAM was created to represent the political, economic and cultural interests of the developing world and prevent its members from becoming pawns in power games. Today, the developed countries, thanks to their technological and economic superiority, set the global rules where their decisions only serve to bring developing countries under more domination. Under the globalized rules of the game in trade and investment, developing countries are becoming more indebted and the gap between the world's poor and rich is constantly widening. Developing countries have little access to the world market for both goods and services and poor countries face unfair competition from richer ones, making the hope of lifting themselves out of poverty a mirage.
On the political front, the imperialist countries want to redraw the world map where their interests and allies are best protected in every corner. The daily carnage and unending suffering of people in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories leave little to the imagination about the agenda of the colonial powers.
Developed countries meanwhile consider science and technology as a realm outside the access of other nations. In recent years, world powers have exhausted every effort to deprive Iran of accessing peaceful nuclear technology. Their double standards in keeping silent about the occupying Israeli regime's arsenal of atomic bombs while pressuring Iran to ditch its civilian nuclear program have cast light on the mindset of their leaders and their lack of commitment to moral and international principles.
Developing nations must work to find genuine solutions to these challenges instead of merely getting together from time to time and issuing hollow-sounding declarations. They should work toward building vibrant societies with clear goals of development, economic productivity and public participation. Developing countries are also needed to develop an efficient medium of communication which reflects their interests and breaks the information hegemony of the world powers. They should establish their own network of information to help preserve their culture against an all-out onslaught of Western powers.
On Sunday, Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki asked the Non-Aligned Movement to support Iran's bid for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in 2009 and 2010. He said Iran's membership could "create a positive development in the performance of the Security Council". Presently, the UN authority and legitimacy is eroding under the influence of the U.S. and its allies, affecting the neutrality and independence of the international body. The world has now become almost accustomed to U.S.' vetoing of every resolution which only seeks to condemn the Zionist regime's daily atrocities in the Palestinian territories.
Today more than 80 percent of the world people live in developing countries, who need to have their voice heard. NAM is the only entity up to this task.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
NAM represents 118 countries with a dozen official observers. It accounts for nearly two-thirds of the UN members and more than 56 percent of the world population but the movement has hardly matched its size where a larger voice brings bigger responsibility. Part of this may be blamed on a perception that NAM might have lost its relevance after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
But U.S.' muscle-flexing to reinvent itself as the world’s only superpower has made the challenges of non-alignment more complex, requiring that its members make every effort to preserve, revitalize and strengthen the organization.
NAM was created to represent the political, economic and cultural interests of the developing world and prevent its members from becoming pawns in power games. Today, the developed countries, thanks to their technological and economic superiority, set the global rules where their decisions only serve to bring developing countries under more domination. Under the globalized rules of the game in trade and investment, developing countries are becoming more indebted and the gap between the world's poor and rich is constantly widening. Developing countries have little access to the world market for both goods and services and poor countries face unfair competition from richer ones, making the hope of lifting themselves out of poverty a mirage.
On the political front, the imperialist countries want to redraw the world map where their interests and allies are best protected in every corner. The daily carnage and unending suffering of people in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories leave little to the imagination about the agenda of the colonial powers.
Developed countries meanwhile consider science and technology as a realm outside the access of other nations. In recent years, world powers have exhausted every effort to deprive Iran of accessing peaceful nuclear technology. Their double standards in keeping silent about the occupying Israeli regime's arsenal of atomic bombs while pressuring Iran to ditch its civilian nuclear program have cast light on the mindset of their leaders and their lack of commitment to moral and international principles.
Developing nations must work to find genuine solutions to these challenges instead of merely getting together from time to time and issuing hollow-sounding declarations. They should work toward building vibrant societies with clear goals of development, economic productivity and public participation. Developing countries are also needed to develop an efficient medium of communication which reflects their interests and breaks the information hegemony of the world powers. They should establish their own network of information to help preserve their culture against an all-out onslaught of Western powers.
On Sunday, Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki asked the Non-Aligned Movement to support Iran's bid for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in 2009 and 2010. He said Iran's membership could "create a positive development in the performance of the Security Council". Presently, the UN authority and legitimacy is eroding under the influence of the U.S. and its allies, affecting the neutrality and independence of the international body. The world has now become almost accustomed to U.S.' vetoing of every resolution which only seeks to condemn the Zionist regime's daily atrocities in the Palestinian territories.
Today more than 80 percent of the world people live in developing countries, who need to have their voice heard. NAM is the only entity up to this task.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
 With the 15th ministerial conference of the Non-Aligned nations underway in Tehran, the movement face...){kind=link}
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