Which summit helped launch the Non-Aligned Movement by uniting leaders from Africa and Asia in 1961?

Which summit helped launch the Non-Aligned Movement by uniting leaders from Africa and Asia in 1961?

• A. The Belgrade Summit (1961)
• B. The Bandung Conference (1955)
• C. The Havana Summit (1960)
• D. The Casablanca Conference (1962)

Answer: (A)

The idea being tested is how a formal grouping emerged among newly independent states to chart an independent path during the Cold War. The Belgrade Summit of 1961 brought together leaders from Asia and Africa to coordinate a non‑aligned foreign policy and to articulate a shared approach to sovereignty, anti‑colonialism, and peaceful coexistence. This gathering is recognized as the launch of the Non‑Aligned Movement, establishing its principles and providing the institutional footing for a bloc of states that chose not to align with either the US or the Soviet Union. Bandung in 1955 laid the groundwork by signaling a desire for cooperation among Asian and African states, but it was the Belgrade summit in 1961 that formally launched the NAM. The other options correspond to different events and times and are not the founding summit of the movement.

The idea being tested is how a formal grouping emerged among newly independent states to chart an independent path during the Cold War. The Belgrade Summit of 1961 brought together leaders from Asia and Africa to coordinate a non‑aligned foreign policy and to articulate a shared approach to sovereignty, anti‑colonialism, and peaceful coexistence. This gathering is recognized as the launch of the Non‑Aligned Movement, establishing its principles and providing the institutional footing for a bloc of states that chose not to align with either the US or the Soviet Union.

Bandung in 1955 laid the groundwork by signaling a desire for cooperation among Asian and African states, but it was the Belgrade summit in 1961 that formally launched the NAM. The other options correspond to different events and times and are not the founding summit of the movement.