Nelson Mandela is released from prison

The summit reaffirmed political independence and economic cooperation while addressing the changing international system. The debate marked a transition from a movement defined by bloc politics toward...

Voters chose representatives to prepare an independent constitution after decades of South African administration and a long armed and diplomatic liberation struggle. The election fulfilled a...

The opening of the Berlin Wall became a symbol of the rapid weakening of the Cold War order in Europe. For NAM, the change raised questions about whether a new international order would become more...

George H. W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev discussed the changing relationship between their states. The summit signaled a turning point in superpower rivalry, but it did not resolve colonial legacies,...

The South African government announced the unbanning of the ANC, PAC and Communist Party and a path toward negotiations. Decades of resistance, regional solidarity and international pressure helped...

Namibia became independent after UN-supervised elections and a long struggle led by SWAPO. Its independence fulfilled a core anti-colonial objective repeatedly advanced by NAM, the OAU and the...

Iraq’s invasion raised a sharp test for states that had long defended sovereignty and non-intervention. NAM members differed over how to respond, revealing the difficulty of applying principles...

The Council authorized states cooperating with Kuwait to use “all necessary means” if Iraq did not withdraw by 15 January 1991. The resolution exposed tensions between collective security, sovereignty...

The campaign followed Iraq’s occupation of Kuwait and Security Council authorization. NAM debates over the crisis highlighted the unequal influence of major powers over decisions about enforcement and...

The declarations accelerated the breakup of Yugoslavia, a founding NAM member and one of the movement’s key diplomatic centers. The crisis weakened one of the original pillars of non-alignment and...