Nonalignment is not equidistance from the major powers.It is commitment to fight anti-human forces wherever they appear -- fascism, imperialism, hegemonism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, racism, apartheid, zionism, oppression and exploitation. Nonalignment is Not Neutrality!
Nonalignment as a concept is often misunderstood, mainly in two ways: as an attitude of neutrality towards the super-power conflict, or as equidistance from the Soviet Union and the U.S.A.
Neutrality means non-involvement. The nonaligned nations cannot be neutral or non-involved in the power conflicts that affect the human race. Two-thirds of the world's people live in the 130 nonaligned countries. Power conflicts between major powers directly affect their destiny; how can they afford to be neutral or uninvolved? The nonaligned nations are committed only to make their own decisions, on the basis of justice and in the interests of peace and progress tor the human race. They give no prior undertaking to support the policies of one major power bloc or another. Even among the members of the nonaligned group, there is no prior commit- ment to support the policies of each other in all matters. Each nation retains the freedom to judge independently any conflict anywhere, whether it be between major powers, between a major power and one of the members of its own bloc, or between two members of the nonaligned group of nations.
Equally misleading is the concept of equidistance. There is no commitment in the nonaligned movement to view the two major powers-- the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R-- on the same level. The concept that both major powers are imperialist cannot stand Examination.
The U.S.A. is committed by its present policy to world exploitation and military and economic domination of the world. It makes open and public statements about defending by military force its interests in the Middle East and in Latin America, Asia and Africa. To this policy the nonaligned nations have to be resolutely opposed.
The U.S.A. has a record of seeking to suppress the progressive forces in Cuba and Chile, in Iran and Palestine, in Afghanistan and Vietnam, to mention only a few of the better known instances of direct or indirect U.S. intervention. The U.S.A. supports reactionary regimes in Chile, South Africa, Israel, and even the remnants of the former Pol Pot regime of kampuchea.
ln the United Nations, the U.S.A. Has consistently used its power and influence to obstruct many progressive moves.
It is in this context that the accusation against the nonaligned movement that it is biased against the U.S.A. has to be examined. There is no prior commitment on the part of the nonaligned nations to be anti-American. On the contrary, when the actions of the U.S.A. are in support of the forces of freedom, justice and dignity for all, the U.S.A. can expect full support from the nonaligned countries.
Socialist Countries’ Support to Nonalignment
On the other hand, the U.S.S.R. and the socialist countries have a different record. They have consistently supported all movements for liberation and decolonisation in Asia, Africa and Latin America. They have actively assisted the liberation movements in Southern Africa and supported the movement of the Palestinian people for self-determination and a homeland of their own. They have consistently opposed Israel's illegal occupation of Arab territory and South Africa's illegal regime in Namibia. They have helped Cuba to resist the mighty power of the U.S.A., in the latter's attempts to subvert the Cuban Revolution and to make Cuba subservient to U.S. interests. They have supported Vietnam in its opposition, first to French colonialism, then to U.S. aggression, and more recently to the outrageous Chinese
attack on a struggling socialist country just beginning its recovery from the ravages of brutal U.S. Aggression.
In such a situation, how can anyone expect the nonaligned nations to maintain a position of equidistance from the U.S.A. and from the U.S.S.R.?
Nonalignment is not neutrality. Nonalignment is not equidistance from the major powers. Nonalignment is commitment only to fight anti-human forces wherever they Appear-- fascism, imperialism, hegemonism, colonialism, neocolonialism, racism, apart- heid, zionism, oppression and exploitation. Nonalignment can be equidistant from two nations only when both nations are equally guilty or equally innocent.
The superpower ideology, propagated by reactionary circles in the western world and China, seeks to subvert the principled commitment of the nonaligned nations. It tells us that we must be equally opposed to the U.S A. and U.S.S.R., irrespective of the policies and actions of the two nations. Too many intellectuals in the Third World are brainwashed by the superpower ideology and insist on treating the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. alike. It is the responsibility of all clear thinking people everywhere to expose the superpower ideology as a new anti-Soviet ploy, calculated to confuse and mislead.
Both the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R. Are powerful. But it is not against their power that the nonaligned nations contend. What matters is the way that power is used. When power is used in support of anti-human forces, the nonaligned will condemn such use of power, and resist it with at least moral force.
When the policies and actions of the U.S.A. become more pro-human and supportive of progressive forces, the nonaligned movement will extend support to such policies.
It is up to the people of the US.A. To see that this happens.