The Faces of Nonalignment

...But though their views coincide on most international issues, there are indications that subtle differences on the matter of nonalignment may become more pronounced...

...This represented a shift from a strategy of "unity in goals" (meaning readiness to cooperate ad hoc with all Arab regimes, irrespective of their "conservative" or "reactionary' character) to one of "unity of ranks" (denoting an emphasis on appeals to the masses for the revolutionary overthrow of anti-Nasser leaderships...

...Two other recent developments could lead to a further widening of the differences between Belgrade and Cairo over the approach to nonalignment...

...The charismatic figures who struggled for national independence and coveted prominence in world politics are being replaced by men intent on retaining power and finding solutions to pressing internal problems...

...His skepticism may be partly explained by the feeling in Egypt that the Cairo conference of nonaligned nations in October 1964 was held too soon after the Belgrade conference to serve any constructive purpose...

...One of the founders and the principle theoretician of nonalignment, he is an innovator and an activist who favors frequent international gatherings...

...This conference also differs from previous ones because conflicting objectives overshadow the areas of agreement...

...But India's nonalignment is not, and never has been, the act of conviction that it is for Tito and Nasser...

...Thus Tito is especially eager to bring Mrs...

...LITTLE SUMMIT IN NEW DELHI The Faces of Nonalignment By Alvin Z. Rubinstein The meeting in New Delhi next October 21 of Yugoslavia's President Josip Broz Tito, the United Arab Republic's President Gamal Abdul Nasser and India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi will mark one more attempt to halt the erosion of the nonaligned nations' influence in international affairs...

...By keeping the criteria flexible, he hopes to attract new adherents and enhance the group's international influence...

...the New Delhi conference is another...

...Gandhi, who had come into office only two months earlier and was preparing to leave for the United States in quest of economic aid, quietly rejected both the summit appeal and the Yugoslav leader's invitation to stop by on her way home for an "unofficial" get-acquainted session...

...Dubious about the usefulness of conferences, large or small, Nasser appears to have gone along with the Yugoslav initiative for the New Delhi meeting largely out of deference to his friend...

...Nasser sees in nonalignment a lever for strengthening his position in the Arab world, which is central to all his thoughts, and for gaining support of the Arab position on "Palestine" and extending the boycott of Israel...

...Of the three, Tito is the only genuine "internationalist" and the one who has the most to lose from the erosion of nonalignment's influence in international affairs...

...Though the daughter of Nehru, Mrs...

...Secondly, to retain his influence among the more militant African regimes, Nasser broke off diplomatic relations with Great Britain over the Rhodesian question...

...The New Delhi conference comes at a time when the notable figures of nonalignment have been reduced to two: Tito and Nasser...

...Mrs...

...In some vague way, both Yugoslavia and the UAR seek to reinvigorate nonalignment as the only refuge for small countries who desire to remain aloof from the alliances and influence-building of the Great Powers...

...In terms of foreign policy, nonalignment is useful for Mrs...

...These, however, are not the policy considerations that bring each to the conference...

...Death, coups, and domestic realignments have decimated its once impressive ranks...

...But the summit conference of the Big Three nonaligned leaders is more likely to underscore their differing aims and interests than to result in any brightened prospects for concerted action...

...Tito first suggested such a meeting last March, shortly after the toppling of Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah during his trip to Peking, and Nasser somewhat skeptically acquiesced...

...Gandhi has yet to prove herself as a national leader, much less an international one...

...Aside from Nkrumah's fall, Nehru died in May 1964, Ben Bella was deposed in June 1965, and Sukarno has been shorn of much of his power...

...As pressure mounts among the militants south of the Sahara for a "final solution" to the colonial questiona pressure intensified by the recent ruling of the World Court in favor of South Africa-Nasser, who is far more African-oriented than Yugoslavia or India, may feel compelled to espouse unprecedently radical policies...

...The "romantic" era of nonalignment-when the capitals in the West and East watched carefully, sometimes apprehensively, the summit conferences of the nonaligned leaders-is over...

...Nasser was especially distressed by the diverse composition of the Cairo gathering, in contrast to Tito, and has recently begun advocating more precise criteria for membership in the nonaligned group...

...Though politically Indian leaders cannot afford to ignore or avoid nonaligned conferences, they have never placed much importance on the meetings...

...Perhaps more significant, he recognizes that Yugoslavia needs close affiliation with the nonaligned countries to avoid diplomatic isolation, and that only if they assume the active, cooperative international posture he constantly has sought for them can Belgrade hope to retain an important world role...

...But it seems clear that the meeting in New Delhi will not provide the answer to the important question of "Whither nonalignment...

...With elections scheduled for early 1967 and economic difficulties mushrooming, she is seeking to establish her credentials as an internationally respected leader in the tradition of her illustrious father...

...Except for his dreams of a prestige-enhancing mediation of the Vietnam conflict, he is also less interested than the Yugoslav leader in Europe or Asia...

...In addition the UAR believes that the meeting with India in New Delhi at this time will jeopardize Cairo's hope of helping to mediate an end to the Vietnam fighting...

...As for the UAR's position, it must be seen in the light of the extraordinarily cordial relationship between Nasser and Tito, who have met 17 times since 1955 and greatly respect and admire each other...

...Her recent trip to Moscow was part of a campaign of internal image building...

...He believes in broadening the base of the group, contending that a country should be accepted as nonaligned if it claims to be so, even if it really is not, on the theory that it may one day become a truly nonaligned nation...

...She is also eager to mitigate harsh criticism from the Left that she is a "tool of Washington" and selling Indian Socialism down a river of American dollars...

...Gandhi and India into active participation...

...She also sees the New Delhi conference as a means of reassuring Moscow of India's continued adherence to the principle, and needs Moscow's friendship not only for diplomatic, economic and military support but also as a foil against the damaging thrusts from India's vocal Left...

...Pragmatic, cautious and generally a reactive type in foreign affairs, Nasser is less concerned than Tito with sweeping theoretical explanations for changing international trends...

...In May, while Tito was visiting Nasser in Alexandria, the idea was revived, Mrs...

...Ostensibly, the three leaders are meeting to discuss topics such as Vietnam, disarmament, developments in Africa, particularly Rhodesia and South Africa, and the changing situation in Asia as a result of the end of the IndonesianMalaysian confrontation...

...Both believe that the world will need nonalignment until the blocs dissolve completely and the cold war disappears-until, as one Egyptian official expressed it, "There is no stampeding of the weaker by the stronger...

...Gandhi accepted, and also agreed to stop briefly in Cairo and Belgrade en route to an official visit in the Soviet Union on July 12...

...Gandhi largely to the extent that it can provide support for India's position in the Sino-Indian and Indo-Pakistani conflicts...

...Alvin Z. Rubinstein, professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania, spent the past year in Yugoslavia and the UAR...

...Tito is convinced the nonaligned nations can play a constructive role in easing world tensions and marshalling UN support for anti-colonialism and increased aid to less developed countries...

...The final joint communique may be expected to deal with these issues...

...Though the UAR is the only major nonaligned country still enjoying friendly relations with Moscow and Peking, China is hardly apt to pay any attention to appeals from a nonaligned conference prominently including India...

...Increasingly stripped of the glamour of charismatic leaders and no longer the only alternative, in a period of corroding bloc constraints, to uncritical alignment with Washington or Moscow, nonalignment needs new ideas and an effective institutional framework...

...Gandhi, meanwhile, is interested in the New Delhi meeting primarily for domestic reasons...

...Nonalignment is now adapting to international reality...

...In late July Nasser, who originated the idea of an Arab summit conference in 1963, announced that he would not attend the fourth one, which had been scheduled for this month...