No Bush to bash,NAM talks meltdown,growth

Three years on,the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM),famously described as a relic of the Cold War,is desperately seeking to reinvent itself and stay alive. And two recent,history-making events have pushed it to the brink: the rise of Barack Obama as the president of the sole superpower and his quest for a new multipolar world order,and the global financial crisis which has hit rich and poor nations hard.

So when the 15th NAM summit opened in this Egyptian Red Sea resort on Wednesday,there was a new subtext in the language of the prominent leaders of the 118-country grouping and a quest for ideas rather than ideology.

Leader after leader stressed on the need for joining forces to combat the economic slowdown and how the crisis that originated in the rich countries could end up hurting the poor who make the bulk of NAM more.

Ironically,the ground was laid by Castro himself as the outgoing chairperson of NAM. Castro,who in April offered to discuss everything with the United States to improve ties after Obama eased a nearly five-decade trade embargo against Havana,said the developing countries were the most affected by the financial crisis.

And as usual,the wealthy countries were the source of the current crisis,which was affected by the illogic of the international economic order that depends on blind market principles and consumption,and the wealth of the few, he said. We demand the establishment of a new international financial and economic structure that relies on the participation of all countries.

Hosni Mubarak,the President of Egypt,the country Obama chose to address the Islamic world and extend a hand of friendship weeks earlier,echoed those sentiments. We call for a new international political,economic and commercial order,an order that is more fair and balanced,an order that is away from selectivity and double standards,an order that takes into consideration the preoccupations and priorities of developing countries,one that establishes democracy in interaction between the rich and the poor countries, he said.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon too threw in his lot with the grouping which spans an arc from South America,Africa,the Middle-East,South Asia and Southeast Asia. He said there were worrying indications of economic nationalism and protectionism in the aftermath of the financial crisis and this trend needed to be countered. Philippine President Gloria-Macapagal Arroyo said that the issues concerning the world were so grave that there is no time for rigid ideologies.

Much of this would have sounded like music to Indias ears as New Delhi has been seeking to walk a fine balance in recent years following its new found friendship with the United States and the realignment within NAM with member countries such as Saudi Arabia,Pakistan,Afghanistan and Iraq,to name a few,coming under a strong US sphere of influence.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seemed to strike the right note when he said history has shown that non-alignment is an idea that evolves but does not fade. He continued from where he left off at the recent G-8 summit,stressing on the need for joining hands to fight the hegemony of rich nations over the global economy and the geopolitical system.

The most bare-knuckle,and perhaps candid,comments came from Libyas Moamer Gaddafi,described as the King of Africa by host Mubarak. Honestly,our movement was never really non-aligned, he told the summit.

Most members of the movement belonged to the Soviet bloc. We were fighting against liberalism,capitalism and colonialism of the West. We were actually aligned for our own interests. We are facing new challenges and we need to reconsider,re-evaluate the international situation and order for the world to benefit from this huge gathering. Otherwise,it would be just another gathering. Because,non-alignment is a term that is somehow vague.