Studies on Non-alignment

Abstract

The ability of the new nations to think for themselves has surprised their former rulers as much as their capacity for self-government. In many circles it has not only caused surprise but some dismay. It was hoped that the older and wiser rulers would still continue to rule other men's minds if not their countries. Nothing has so disappointed these hopes as the development in the newly independent states of a rich and complex idea of non-alignment, and as a result this idea has been much misunderstood and much resented. Scholars have realised only recently that it is now an integral part of contemporary political thought.