Revitalizing NAM

Revitalizing NAM

As expected, the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)
kicked off yesterday in Kuala Lumpur with the shadow of a
possible war in Iraq hanging menacingly over the proceedings.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who is taking over
leadership of the group from South African President Thabo Mbeki,
aptly described the prevailing mood of the majority of the
movement's 114 member countries in his opening remarks, when he
said war remained the most important threat facing the movement,
which was established in 1955.

"War must be outlawed -- that will have to be our struggle for
now. No single nation should be allowed to police the world,"
Mahathir said in obvious reference to the United States, which is
reported to be continuing to build up its military strength in
the Middle East in preparation for a possible war against Iraq.

Calling the current war stance of a number of Western nations
a "revival of the old European trait of wanting to dominate the
world", Mahathir warned that the "expression of this trait
invariably involves injustice and oppression of people of other
ethnic origins and colors. It is no longer just a war against
terrorism. It is in fact a war in order to dominate the world,
i.e. the chromatically different world".

Although Mahathir was only giving expression to his own
thoughts and ideas, old-timers in this part of the world will
undoubtedly hear echoes of Indonesian president Sukarno's tirades
against what he used to refer to as the "neo-colonialists and
imperialists" of the West during the Cold War standoff between
the U.S. and the Socialist Block, led by the Soviet Union --
which was the raison d'etre for the NAM's coming into existence
in 1955.

As for Indonesia, it seems, for now at least, that by giving
the impression of concentrating on its possible mediative role in
the U.S.-North Korea dispute over nuclear disarmament rather than
taking a strong position regarding Iraq, a golden opportunity to
regain something of its old prestige on the world political stage
has slipped through its fingers. But then, Indonesia, in its
current destitute condition, may not be in a position to be too
critical of the United States and its allies.

For that matter, the same -- more or less -- could well be
said of NAM as an organization of supposedly politically
independent and non-partisan nations. Almost all the members of
the movement, with only a very few exceptions, are poor and
either depend on aid from the rich "North" or are beset with
internal problems of their own. The very fact that a summit that
was agreed upon in Durban, South Africa, as far back as 1998
could only be realized in 2003 indicates that more than a few
things are not quite well in NAM.

Bangladesh, which would have hosted the post-Durban summit in
2001, was struggling toward stability after a change of
government and its minister of finance declared the country too
poor to host a summit of the non-aligned movement -- an
organization the Bangladeshi government said was "irrelevant"
anyway. The next candidate to host the summit, Jordan, declared
itself unable to play host only a few months before the summit
was to be held, offering the turbulent situation in the Middle
East as an excuse.

Enter Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who is not
for nothing known as Southeast Asia's most senior and most
articulate leader, to revive the old dream of establishing a
block of politically non-aligned and independent nations strong
enough to represent the interests of the poor nations of the
world and thereby bring some kind of balance to world politics.

It must be said that Malaysia has played its role as summit
host quite well. For Indonesia, too, the opportunity is still
there for it to play a significant role in making this world a
more peaceful place to live. This it can do, at the very least,
by making every effort to increase the block's bargaining
position vis-a-vis Iraq, and persuade that country to comply with
UN Resolution 1441. The protests that have taken place in many
countries around the world show that the current mood is one
strongly opposed to war.