Fifth Non-Aligned Summit opens in Colombo

A military uprising overthrew Portugal’s authoritarian Estado Novo. The revolution opened the way to independence for Portugal’s African colonies, showing how anti-colonial struggle abroad and...

Resolution 3201 called for reform of an international economy shaped by colonial extraction and unequal exchange. The initiative, backed by developing countries, sought permanent sovereignty over...

Resolution 3236 reaffirmed the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including self-determination and national independence. NAM diplomacy helped bring Palestinian rights into the UN’s central...

The South Vietnamese government collapsed and the war ended with Vietnamese reunification under the revolutionary government. The outcome was widely read across the Global South as a defeat of a major...

Portugal’s withdrawal ended colonial rule, but rival liberation movements fought for power as external states intervened. The conflict exposed the gap between formal decolonization and the sovereignty...

The summit called for cooperation among developing countries and supported the New International Economic Order. Its program sought to convert the political solidarity of decolonization into...

Foreign ministers met to coordinate positions ahead of the 1979 summit, including on Palestine and liberation struggles. The meeting showed how NAM used regular diplomatic machinery to amplify...

The Coordinating Bureau’s final communiqué called for Palestinian rights and opposition to occupation and colonialism. Such statements strengthened international advocacy, though they did not...

The summit convened amid debate over Cuba’s close relationship with the Soviet Union and the meaning of non-alignment. It showed the movement’s breadth and its internal disagreements about whether...

The final declaration addressed colonialism, apartheid, Palestine, disarmament and economic reform. Disagreement over Cuba’s role exposed limits to unity, but the summit preserved a platform for...