An Exploration Of The Carter Administration’s Policy Toward The Non-Aligned Movement

In the 70 s of the 20 th century,the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union entered a stage of scorching,and the trend of the Third World became a key counterweight in it.Among them,the Non-Aligned Movement,as a third world organization covering most of Asian,African and Latin American countries,has attracted great attention from the international community during this period.After the Carter administration came to power,faced with the expansion of the Soviet Union’s power in the Third World,the challenge of the Third World to the hegemony of the United States,the change in the attitude of Western countries after the growth of the Non-Aligned Movement,and the chaotic domestic situation in the United States,the Carter administration took the initiative to improve the rigid relationship with the Non-Aligned Movement and Third World countries,strengthen the importance attached to the Non-Aligned Movement,and continue the policy principle of the United States during the Ford administration to attach importance to and use the non-aligned countries to serve its own interests.Strengthen attention to and intervention in specific issues such as the ideological orientation and economic aspirations of the Non-Aligned Movement.Its purpose is to curb the expansion of the Soviet Union’s power in the Third World during this period,and on the other hand,to attack the Third World’s attempt to break the international order dominated by the United States and establish a new international economic order.In the specific process,the Carter administration curbed the biased tendency of the Non-Aligned Movement through diplomatic means such as lobbying the Non-Aligned Countries,widening the differences in the interests of the Non-Aligned Countries,and inducing human rights doctrines,and disrupted the process of building a new international economic order initiated by the Non-Aligned Movement.However,instead of improving the strong hostility of the non-aligned countries towards the United States,this policy eventually intensified this sentiment,and the anti-American sentiment of the non-aligned movement reached its peak.On the whole,the Carter administration’s policy towards the Non-Aligned Movement presents four distinctive characteristics: the narrowness of target positioning,the concealment of policy means,the limited effectiveness of policies,and the continuity and innovation of policies.This policy had an important impact on both the United States and the Non-Aligned Movement,exacerbating the divisions of the Movement,combating the Movement’s partiality and providing a practical basis for the application of the Reagan administration’s human rights doctrine.Fundamentally,as an integral part of the US global Cold War strategy and the product of the United States’ strengthening of its dominance in the international order,this policy has always been based on short-term interests,based on the principle of Western-centrism,and has not effectively considered the interests and needs of other countries,especially the vast number of developing countries.As a result,during the Cold War,U.S.policy toward the Non-Aligned Movement lacked sustained policy objectives and a coherent policy framework.