NAM and changing global power relations

East Asia, which is currently the scene to a multiplicity of regional tensions, besides being an arena of unprecedented economic dynamism and productivity, is also part of what is considered the ‘energy demand heartland’ of the world. That is, the region has an abundance of oil and gas deposits which many a major power may be seeking to exercise control over.

As this commentary is being written, we are informed that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would be in the Cook Islands as part of a tour to bolster the presence of the US in the Asia-Pacific region. The development comes against a backdrop of simmering territorial disputes featuring China and a number of other regional heavyweights, over the Spratley Islands and other territories in the South China Sea, and Japan and Korea over control of the East Sea. On top of all this comes a squabble between China and Japan, with some islands at its centre. All these and more disputes point to concerns among these key international actors over perceived untapped energy resources in East Asia.

Many of the states mentioned are dynamic industrial powers which are badly in need of energy resources to sustain their economic growth. Their economic futures depend very crucially on the power and energy base they could have control over and this is a trigger factor to many of their territorial squabbles.

Economic power

However, this rash of territorial disputes accompanies a shift in the global economic power balance from the West to East Asia and with the emergence of the Asian region as the economic epicenter of the world. For instance, the Free Trade Area between China and ASEAN, for instance, boasts of an economic productivity that easily dwarfs the economic might of the West and showcases a consumer base which is of enormous and phenomenal proportions.

Accordingly, things could not be more promising for the developing world as the Non-aligned Movement meets on August 30 at Heads of State level for its 16th Summit in Tehran. The developing countries meeting within the fold of NAM would do well to put up an unbreakable united front to consolidate their power in the current world power structure which until now was weighted, of course, towards the West.

The current changes in the international power system need to be seized by the developing countries to restructure the prevailing economic order in more equitable directions so that their decades-long material grievances could finally be rectified. In order to do this they would need to contain rifts and disputes among themselves, which have been stalling their efforts at securing collective economic and material gains over the years.

Political leaders

Well, the slogan, a New International Economic Order, may not ring a bell for the younger generation of world political leaders but it needs to be remembered that this was a rallying cry of the Third World in the decades of the Sixties and the Seventies. That was the heyday of OPEC and of the promise raised by the oil wealth garnered by these oil and energy resources rich countries. The hope was that the oil rich countries would use their clout to share some of their gains with the Third World but this did not materialize fully.

One hopes that with the international economic power balance now decisively shifting to East Asia, the consideration that economic justice should be meted out to the developing countries, would enjoy a fresh lease of life.

This issue needs to be taken-up by NAM and the structures put in place to eventually generate economic justice for the ‘Wretched of the Earth.’ The economically better off countries of the Eastern hemisphere would need to think beyond their immediate interests to make this happen even by and by.

But it augurs well for NAM that UN chief Ban Ki-Moon is considering it advisable to attend the NAM Summit in Tehran, disregarding Western protests in the process. It indicates that the UN is attaching great importance to the changing global economic power structure. The UN chief’s gesture should read as implicit support for the cause of NAM, and the lesser powers of the world should make full use of this huge plus.