The Hindu : An enduring farce

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 24, 2003

Opinion

Opinion - News Analysis

An enduring farce

By Vijay Dandapani

Jacques Chirac may never quite evoke the opprobrium most Americans reserve for Osama bin Laden or Jeffrey Dahmer. But the French leader has, without question, fallen afoul of the U.S. administration and a goodly number of Americans. That Mr. Chirac and his suave Foreign Minister, Dominique Villepin, display remarkable amnesia while holding out France as the standard bearer for multi lateralism at the Security Council is not lost on the U.S. Swept away with characteristic Gallic hauteur is a hoary history of interventionism in the post-war years that include Vietnam, the improbably named Central African Empire, Rwanda, Madagascar and the Cote d'Ivoire.

The U.S. may well have the last laugh as the denouement for this diplomatic ruckus could turn out to be the undoing of the French. In anticipation of that well-deserved moment of levity, it is worth considering the antics of another farcical "world body", the Non-Aligned Movement better known by its acronym NAM.

Formed originally by 29 newly liberated states in 1955, the movement was initially led by Egypt, India, Indonesia and the former Yugoslavia. In the early stages, after venting against the undoubted misdeeds of their former colonial rulers, the movement sought to stake out a middle ground against American "imperialism" and the machinations of the Soviet Bloc. In reality, most nations ended up firmly in the Soviet camp. Their vote in the United Nations reflected their idea of non-bias when they usually chose to remain silent if not actively endorse the former USSR's many international adventures.

NAM's credibility reached its nadir in 1979 when Fidel Castro was elected the movement's president and the group remained largely silent as the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. I was privy, albeit at an obscure level as a management trainee of a hotel, to the extraordinary spectacle brought about by a NAM summit in 1983. The Indian state spared no expense in playing host to an assortment of dictators, potentates and Prime Ministers who descended onto New Delhi's premier hotels. I saw Daniel Ortega, the pistol-toting moustachioed leader of Nicaragua whose phalanx of bodyguards described a horseshoe shaped wall as he strutted through the lobby of Delhi's famed Oberoi Hotel. In a remarkable feat of gymnastics, the guards would then rocket up the stairs to greet the green-uniformed leader and his close aides as they emerged from the elevator on his floor.

Also present in full military regalia were the generals who led India's neighbours — Pakistan and Bangladesh. The first, General Zia-ul-Haq, despite his deep animosity towards India, made it a point to exchange pleasantries with virtually every staff member of the Oberoi.

The break-up of the Soviet Union ought to have brought about the rapid demise of this unlikely clutch of nations. Instead, somewhat incredibly, they remain banded and have actually bloated to an impressive total of 116 countries with a further 23 nations and organisations knocking at its door with observer status. Among the latter is the United Nations itself, the Organisation of Islamic States, the dubiously titled `New Movement for the Independence of Puerto Rico' and China. The heads of these nations and organisations are slated to meet from February 20 to 25 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

NAM's website is coy about its agenda for the forthcoming summit other than stating an intent to continue to be forward-looking and relevant. That is an ambitious goal given the many deep-rooted animosities that divide its many members. A case in point is India and Pakistan whose leaders are expected to be present. Yet no meeting between them is contemplated given fundamental differences.

A cursory look at NAM's record underscores the hollowness of the group's claim to have made a difference to the many problems that beset numerous member-nations. Whether it is the debt crisis, global interdependence, universal human rights, the drug menace (Colombia was once a Chairman of NAM), or even the Orwellian objective of "international information gate keeping", it is evident to any dispassionate observer that the movement has come up short.

In an unintended acknowledgement of the group's irrelevance, the theme for this week's summit is titled the "Revitalisation of NAM". Apart from being a boondoggle for the throngs of bureaucrats who accompany the heads of state, it is hard to find any rationale for the unseemly display of state-owned wealth.

Americans can take comfort that, unlike the United Nations, not a single U.S. taxpayer dollar is expended. The tragedy, though, is that the meagre resources of participant nations are expended on sustaining this enduring farce.

(The writer lives in New York)

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