XVI NOAL summit opens in Havana.

by ;-) iosaf Sat Sep 16, 2006 21:42

Is perhaps the reaction of many to the notion of a non-aligned movement" or a meeting whose only european representation is the president of Belarus. Oh yes. He might think he got over 90% of the votes, but Poland blasted his citizens with "free radio" since 2003 to convince them they could overthrow his "dictatorship" with a velvet style revolution. In the aftermath of that disastrous foreign policy project of the right wing Polish state, Belarus joined Mugabe on the "not welcome" list. None of you if you wanted could invite either the leadership of Belarus or Zimbabwe to your local social centre to speak. Not even if you bought them tickets to travel. Because quite simply they are "personae non grata". Try it! (don't just take my word for it) Invite Richard Mugabe to open your street festival & see how far you get in geopolitical affairs. It would be easier to pay Caoimhe Butterly's lawyer fees in Lebanon. honestly it would

However, for the last two years the potential of alliances & geo-political power quotient of the "bad boys" within NAM (meaning the maligned human rights disrefarding states of Africa with Iran & pakistan & what is generally in Ireland called the "new left states" of the Bolivarian pacts in the Americas - have caught my eye & caused me to wonder on many emergent levels. Many of these regimes are antipathetical to "western" concepts of liberty or human rights. But one thing many have in common is the belief at one stage their citizens held in the "big men" at the top. From Mugabe to Castro, from Uribe to Chavez, from Belarus to Pakistan, from Saudi Arabia to Mauritania we are talking about a block whose potential to act together never saw "its day". But now - they are going to try. Interestingly enough one thing they agree on is :- they can live with capitalism on their own terms .

For those of you who don't know who or what this group is / are :-

"The Non-Aligned Movement, or NAM, is an international organization of over 100 states which consider themselves not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. The purpose of the organization as stated in the Havana Declaration of 1979 is to ensure "the national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of non-aligned countries in their struggle against imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, apartheid, racism, Zionism, and all forms of foreign aggression, occupation, domination, interference or hegemony as well as against great power and bloc politics".They represent nearly two-thirds of the United Nations's members and comprise 55% of the world population. Important members have included India, Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan, Cuba, South Africa, Iran, Malaysia, Yugoslavia, and, for a time, the People's Republic of China. Brazil has never been a formal member of the movement, but the country shares many of the aims of NAM and frequently sends observers to NAM summits. While the organization was intended to be as close an alliance as NATO or the Warsaw Pact, it has little cohesion and many of its members were actually quite closely aligned with one or another of the great powers. For example, Cuba was closely aligned with the former Soviet Union during the Cold War era. India was effectively aligned with the Soviet Union against China for many years. The movement fractured from its own internal contradictions when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979. While the client states of the Soviet Union fully supported the invasion, other members (particularly the Muslim states) of the movement found it impossible to do so. The Non-Aligned Movement has struggled to find relevance since the end of the Cold War. The successor states of Yugoslavia, a founding member, have expressed little interest in the NAM since the country's break-up, and in 2004, Malta and Cyprus ceased to be members of the NAM when they joined the European Union." [ wikipedia]

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the official website for this year's summit which many of the well known states are pushing as "the first to make a difference" since Cuba went into Angola. You can read speeches from the "other leadership" here :- http://www.cubanoal.cu/ingles/index.html

but who is behind the "non alligned movement"? whose finger is on the nukes? who tells Chavez where to stand in photos? who pardons belarus & mugabe? who sits between pakistan & iran?

by iosaf Wed Sep 20, 2006 21:10

you've all heard the one about the italian pope, the polish pope & the german pope???
the polish pope released doves - the german pope shot them down.

But we all want "mutual respect". nice to see Papa ratzi in a pope mobile without bullet proof gas today & Iran wants everyone to calm down. Holy Joe is not a muslim he's a kathurlick pope.

part of a animated short movie work of art which screened on al jazeera this week.