4. NAM

The P5’s default of their self-assigned peace-preservation mandate, the exclusion of much of the world’s population from the Security Council, and the growth of newly independent states fueled the need for change. The establishment of the NAM, uniting countries that share a distinct historic and cultural legacy, created a third global political block. Its political agenda seemed to offer an opportunity to divert the UN and the Security Council from the mutually destructive trajectories of NATO and the Warsaw Pact. NAM’s formation was the logical effect of decolonization and so should have been their aspirations for global governance and conflict resolution. The Republic of China, a member of the original NAM, complicated the “non-alligned” integrity of the movement as China aspired to replace Taiwan as a P5 member state. That internal conflict complicated and delayed the election of NAM member states to the Security Council, and diminished their influence at a level commensurate with the group’s share of countries and of global population. While the NAM eventually gained entry to the Security Council thanks to India’s leadership, and over time became its most numerous voting block, wavering political cohesion diminished its impact on Security Council decisions. Nevertheless, the emergence of the NAM proved to be the decisive factor in eventually activating the UN sanctions system.