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Non-Aligned Movement

This is a collection of primary source documents concerning the Non-Aligned Movement, also referred to as NAM. This anti-colonial movement was spearheaded by several conferences and summits, the first held in Bandung in 1955. The collection mostly contains telegrams and reports related to the 1961 Belgrade Summit. Nearly all of the items are from Albanian archives. Many of the documents are requests for the 1961 conference to be held in a specific location, as well as Soviet views on the conference, and telegrams and reports sent directly from the conference itself. Finally, there are a few notes from various meetings of world leaders that touch on the status of NAM in later years. (Image, Nasser, Tito, and Nehru)

Popular Documents

December 17, 1963

Record of the Second Meeting between Premier Zhou Enlai and President Nasser

Zhou and Nasser discuss developments in and relations with Libya, Tunisia, Israel, Palestine, Morocco, Yemen, and Mauritania, as well as the Non-Aligned Movement and the proposed second Asian-African Conference.

June 26, 1964

Report on the 1st and 2nd Conference of Non-Aligned Countries

According to this report, the African and Asian countries were not satisfied with the 1st Belgrade conference and were trying to call what is known today as the 2nd non-aligned conference in Bandung. Tito and Nehru also reiterated the need for the 2nd conference of non-aligned countries in order to undermine the attempts of the former in initiating the effort. According to the Western press, Nehru took the initiative and sent his Vice-Foreign Minister, Dinish Sing, to Cairo and Belgrade where he met Nasser and Tito, both of whom were expecting him. Tito called for more participants from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. According to Tito’s recommendation, on March 23, 1964, in Colombo, Ceylon, the preparatory meeting was held on the ambassadorial level of Asian, African, and Latin American countries about the upcoming conference. The Soviet Union expressed its support for this conference in Soviet media. The report reveals the following to be discussed topics at the conference: peace, peaceful coexistence, resolution of disputes without the use of force, disarmament, etc. The Albanian government supports the conference of non-aligned countries in principle, but it does not show enthusiasm and avoids promoting the conference in Albania, in the media, and in the international arena. In addition, the report stresses that Albanian diplomats are ordered to follow the Ministry’s guidelines in order to maintain specific policies targeted at each Asian and African country individually.

July 26, 1961

Report on the 1st conference of the non-aligned countries of September 1st, 1961 sent by Tahmaz Beqari, the Albanian ambassador in Belgrade, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Albania

The conference of non-aligned countries in Belgrade was organized when Indonesia and other countries of Asia and Africa were attempting to organize a Second Bandung Conference. Tito and Nehru, trying to minimize the influence of China in the Asian and African countries, initiated a conference that they called the Conference of Non-Aligned Countries in Belgrade. The document discusses the 24 participating countries, the agenda, the proceedings, the different groups among the delegation and the two main documents that the conference adopted: the manifesto and the declaration. The manifesto, titled “The Danger from the War and the Call for Peace,” according to the Albanian ambassador, was adopted in a revisionist spirit, calling on Khrushchev and Kennedy to maintain peace. Meanwhile, the declaration criticized colonialism and imperialism. The Belgrade conference did not decide on any specific issues and did not reach any important conclusions. In Albania, a week after the conference, the journal “Zeri i Popullit” (Voice of the People) wrote an article in which it identified Tito as an agent of imperialism and stated that Yugoslavia was not an non-aligned country as it participated in the Balkan Pact.

September 9, 1978

Cvijetin Mijatović’s Conversation with Kim Il Sung on September 9, 1978

Kim Il Sung discusses new developments in inter-Korean relations and his views on the Non-Aligned Movement.

June 7, 1984

Information About the State Visit of the General Secretary of the WPK CC and President of the DPRK, Kim Il Sung, to the GDR

A comprehensive overview of North Korean-East German ties as well as North Korea's overall foreign relations in light of a visit to the GDR made by Kim Il Sung.