 After the Second World War, nations of Asia and Africa were emerging into freedom. The emerging nations had a clear perception that their dreams of a better life would be lost if they were trapped in contending alliances, but nations of Europe and America grouped themselves into rival power blocks. The emerging nations had a clear perception that their dreams of a better life would be lost if they were trapped in contending alliances. For the new nations, non-alignment became the key to achieve their dreams and aspirations. And to cooperate with all others who are prepared to cooperate with us. We do not intend to be the placings of others. People did not like the massing up of vast armies and nuclear bombs. The people's minds turned to the countries who refused to line up non-alignment. An idea was born, took roots and grew into a movement. From Belgrade in 1961 to Durban in 1998, the movement is a symbiosis of the aspirations of developing nations, echoing the inherent values of the past and present struggles and bound by a collective vision of the future. NAM was born out of anguish, deeply felt by millions across Asia, Africa and Latin America. The son of India, the Buddha, said that the only real victory is one in which all are equally victorious and there is defeat for no one. In the world today, that is the only practical victory. Any other way would lead to disaster. I think that the NAM is facing an existential crisis at both political and economic levels. And it will be during South Africa's watch that NAM will disappear into oblivion. It is in that sense that the non-alignment movement has become irrelevant today because that cohesion, that parallelism, that political will to act together on issues does not exist today. The world as we know it is changing rapidly and I do not believe that NAM reflects those changes and to that extent it is an anachronism. Political will existed I think from 1961 up to 1979 roughly. After that it has been a downhill sort of journey for the non-alignment movement. New regional groupings came, new linkages with other centers of power came and the movement has remained as a large amorphous formal platform and that is why I say it is irrelevant. Just to meet once in two years and make speeches about motherhood and apple pie does not make a movement effective.