Non-Aligned Movement to strengthen its activities for a peaceful and just world

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Non-Aligned Movement to strengthen its activities for a peaceful and just world
Akahata editorial

The Non-Aligned Movement Summit held in Havana, Cuba, ended on September 17 after adopting the "Declaration on the Purposes and Principles and the Role of the Non-Aligned Movement in the Present International Juncture." The Declaration calls on member states to strengthen joint efforts to create a peaceful and just international order based on the U.N. Charter.

The direction that these 118 non-aligned nations, representing nearly two-thirds of the U.N. member countries, have broadly agreed to pursue meets the wishes of the great majority of the peoples of the world.

In opposition to big powers' outrageous acts

The Declaration puts forward the basic directions of activities such as the abolition of nuclear weapons, self-determination and sovereignty of peoples, maintenance of territorial integrity, non-interference in internal affairs, opposition to any forms of terrorism, peaceful settlement of conflicts, and cooperative approach to economic globalization. These activities will be carried out by means of multilateralism, dialogues between different civilizations, "South-South cooperation" among developing countries, and democratization of the U.N.

"Revitalization of the NAM" is a task that has been intensively discussed since the last NAM Summit three and half years ago. During this period, the U.S.-led preemptive attack strategy and unilateralism have been markedly strengthened as is clearly demonstrated by the Iraq war.

In order to deal with this situation, the Summit stressed the NAM's role to oppose "all manifestations of unilateralism and attempts to exercise hegemonic domination in international relations" (the Declaration) and to "govern international relations to build a fairer and more equitable world" (statement by the acting president of the Councils of State and Ministers of Cuba). Positive proposals for nuclear disarmament in the Summit have also drawn public attention.

Most of the non-aligned nations have histories of fighting for independence from colonial rule. They are still struggling to overcome many negative legacies caused by colonialism and their continuous interventions under imperialism. Therefore, it is vital to foil the big powers' arbitrary actions and establish peaceful and just international relations in order to ensure the security of non-aligned countries as well as to resolve issues of global-scale.

The Non-Aligned Movement was launched by 25 countries in September, 1961. Today, all countries in Africa and most countries in Asia and the Middle East take part in the movement. Japan and South Korea, militarily allied with the United States are the only nations in East Asia that do not take part in the NAM. China is an observer.

In Central and South America, most countries take part in the movement, and only six countries, including Brazil and Mexico, remain as observers. Argentina once left the movement, but now attends the summit as a guest. All four new members are Caribbean states.

The necessity of promoting unity aiming at securing sovereignty and development has increased the number of member countries. The Malaysian prime minister said that NAM in the present world "is a reliable and constructive partner for peace and development." The Venezuelan president said, "(We are) entering a new phase in fulfilling (our) parts." These remarks are backed up by their independent efforts to steadily promote communities of nations for peace in Asia and Latin America.

Hopeful Japan's future

The collapse of the colonial system and the move to establish popular sovereignty and an international order for peace represent a major historical change. The Japanese Communist Party program states that newly independent sovereign states "are the main components in the conference of the non-aligned countries and are an important driving force in international politics to create a world that is peaceful and based on the self-determination of nations."

It has become more important than ever before for Japan to withdraw from the Japan-U.S. military alliance and to "follow the path of peace, neutrality, and non-alignment to establish friendship with all countries, instead of entering into military alliances, and to participate in the conference of the non-aligned countries" as the JCP program calls for.
- Akahata, September 19, 2006