Topic– Events from 18th century such as industrial revolution, world wars, redrawal of national boundaries, colonization, decolonization, political philosophies like communism, capitalism, socialism etc.- their forms and effect on the society.
1) The Non-aligned movement adopted a soft balancing strategy aimed at challenging the superpower excesses in a normative manner. Discuss.(250 words)
Why this question
NAM has been the cornerstone of free India’s foreign policy for several decades and its principles have helped make the world a better and more peaceful place and also provided the required strategic autonomy to newly independent states, including India. It is therefore important to discuss in detail about the NAM.
Directive word
Discuss- this is an all-encompassing directive which mandates us to write in detail about the key demand of the question. we also have to discuss about the related and important aspects of the question in order to bring out a complete picture of the issue in hand.
Key demand of the question.
The question wants us to write in detail about the principles of NAM and how the movement adopted a soft balancing strategy aimed at challenging the superpower excesses in a normative manner.
Structure of the answer
Introduction– write a few introductory lines about the NAM, its founding members etc.
Body-
Discuss about the NAM and its principles and write in detail as to how the movement adopted a soft balancing strategy aimed at challenging the superpower excesses in a normative manner. E.g The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and its precursor, the Bandung Afro-Asian conference in 1955, were examples of soft balancing by weaker states towards great powers engaged in intense rivalry and conflict; Despite all its blemishes, the NAM and the Afro-Asian grouping acted as a limited soft balancing mechanism by attempting to delegitimize the threatening behaviour of the superpowers, particularly through their activism at the UN and other forums such as the Eighteen Nation Committee on Disarmament, as well as through resolutions; “Naming” and “shaming” were their operational tools. They worked as norm entrepreneurs in the areas of nuclear arms control and disarmament. They definitely deserve partial credit for ending colonialism as it was practised, especially in the 1950s and 1960s in Africa, parts of Asia and the Caribbean through their activism at the UN General Assembly which declared decolonisation as a key objective in 1960;
The non-aligned declarations on nuclear testing and nuclear non-proliferation especially helped to concretise the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty. They also helped create several nuclear weapon free zones as well as formulate the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty etc.Conclusion– based on your discussion, form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the given issue.
