Non-Aligned Movement

Political · NAM

Belarus joined the Collective Security Treaty in 1993, five years before it joined this movement. A state enters by meeting five conditions agreed at Cairo in June 1961 and by the consensus of a summit, signing nothing at all. The third condition asks that a member not belong to a multilateral military alliance concluded in the context of great power conflicts.

Questions about NAM

What is the Non-Aligned Movement?

A grouping of states formed at Belgrade between 1 and 6 September 1961 by 25 founders, which coordinates positions and issues them as the final documents of its summits and ministerial conferences. It has no charter, no founding treaty, no permanent secretariat and no budget of its own. Administration falls to the member holding the chair, and the chair moves to whichever member hosts the next summit.

How does a country join the Non-Aligned Movement?

By decision of the members, taken by consensus at a summit or at a conference of ministers, and recorded in that meeting's final document. There is no instrument of accession to sign and no depositary to lodge it with, which is why an exact joining date is harder to state for this group than for a treaty organisation. Admission is assessed against the five criteria drawn up at Cairo in June 1961.

Can a member belong to a military alliance as well?

The criteria distinguish two cases. A bilateral military agreement with a great power, or membership of a regional defence pact, is admissible provided it was not concluded deliberately in the context of great power conflicts. Membership of a multilateral military alliance concluded in that context is listed without that qualification. No organ of the movement reviews the question after admission, and none has been created to.

Is Mexico a member of the Non-Aligned Movement?

The participant list published by India's Ministry of External Affairs files Mexico among the observer countries, which may take part in the deliberation and plenary sessions but do not hold the rights and duties of members. The record this catalogue reads files Mexico with the members, which is why it appears on this page. The catalogue records both readings and settles neither.

Which countries in this catalogue are filed with the movement?

The 6 whose records carry the membership: Belarus, Cape Verde, India, Iran, North Korea and Mexico. The movement itself sorts its members into four groups, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe, and the members filed here fall in all four. The full membership is far wider than the part of the catalogue that has records written so far.

Sources

Members and other Participants of NAM Movement · Ministry of External Affairs, India. The three categories of participation, the five membership criteria in full, the four regional groups, and Mexico among the observer countries.
History of the Non-Aligned Movement · The Ugandan chairmanship of the movement. Bandung from 18 to 24 April 1955 with 29 governments, Belgrade from 1 to 6 September 1961 with 25 founders, and the statement that the movement has no charter, act or treaty and no permanent secretariat.
Non-Aligned Movement · Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus. Membership of the movement since 1998, and the nineteenth summit at Kampala from 15 to 20 January 2024.
From the Treaty to the Organization · Collective Security Treaty Organization. The signing at Tashkent on 15 May 1992, the accession of Belarus in 1993, entry into force on 20 April 1994, and the charter approved at Chisinau on 7 October 2002.
Iran's path to active membership in Non-Aligned Movement after the Islamic Revolution · Membership approved at the ministerial meeting at Colombo in June 1979, the withdrawal from the Central Treaty Organization, and participation in the Havana summit of September 1979.
Previous Summits · The chairmanship site kept for the Baku summit. The sequence of summits with their hosts, including Belgrade 1961, Colombo 1976, New Delhi 1983, Durban 1998 and Tehran 2012.
Neighbors in Non-Alignment: The Tito-Kim Correspondence, 1973-1979 · Wilson Center. North Korea's admission to the movement in 1975.
Non-Aligned Movement · Encyclopaedia Britannica. The founding, the absence of a formal structure, and the rotation of the chairmanship with the summit.
1975 Non-Aligned Foreign Ministers Conference · The conference at Lima from 25 to 30 August 1975, at which North Korea was admitted.