Kashmir, Afghanistan, and the Non-Aligned Movement: Cold War Beyond the Superpowers

We will begin our new blog with the Kashmir Issue and then cover the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Finally, we will conclude this block by touching upon the Non-Aligned Movement, thereby wrapping up the Détente period in general terms.

The Kashmir Issue (Pakistan & India)

In 1947, when Pakistan and India declared their independence, the people of Kashmir used their electoral rights, applied according to the treaty, in favour of Muslim Pakistan. However, just like other Muslim regions in the Indian subcontinent that were supposed to join Pakistan, this unification could not be realized because the ruler of Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh, handed the country over to India for money and fled to England.

Kashmir was a region located at the intersection of Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, and China, possessing highly fertile lands. Following Pakistan’s attempt to annex the region, conflicts broke out between India and Pakistan for the first time in 1948. With the intervention of the United Nations, it was decided to hold a plebiscite in Kashmir, and a ceasefire was achieved between the two countries. Although conflicts continued sporadically in the following period, the Tashkent Declaration was signed between Pakistan and India through the initiatives of the Soviet Union, and the parties agreed to resolve their disputes peacefully.

The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

After the overthrow of King Daoud in Afghanistan, the people rebelled against the policies of the People's Party that came to power, and aid was requested from the USSR. Upon this request, a large number of Soviet experts and soldiers arrived in Afghanistan, and the USSR effectively invaded the country on December 27, 1979. The Afghan groups fighting against the Soviet invasion were called “Mujahideen.” During the invasion, President Hafizullah Amin was killed and replaced by Babrak Karmal. This Soviet invasion caused many Afghans to take refuge in Pakistan and Iran, leading to a massive refugee crisis.

In response to this Soviet initiative, the US refused to ratify the SALT II Treaty and halted its grain exports to the country on January 5, 1980. Furthermore, in reaction to the Soviet invasion, the US and nearly 70 other countries did not participate in the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow. As a result of negotiations that began in 1982 under UN supervision among Afghanistan, Pakistan, the US, and the USSR, an agreement was signed in Geneva on April 14, 1988; however, due to internal conflicts, stability could not be achieved in Afghanistan.

Mujahideen praying in Shultan Valley, 1987

The Non-Aligned Movement

One of the most significant developments that emerged as a new power factor in the international arena from the 1960s onwards was the appearance of a new grouping of states under the name of “Non-Alignment,” standing entirely outside the East and West blocs.

Pioneers and Origins: India, Yugoslavia, and Egypt, countries that gained their independence and began to make their voices heard during the Korean War era, were instrumental in the emergence of this movement. The spark and starting point of the Non-Aligned Movement was the Asian-African (Bandung) Conference held in Bandung, Indonesia, in April 1955.

The Goal of the Bandung Conference: The aim was to ensure unity and solidarity among the newly independent African and Asian countries to protect their existence against two massive nuclear powers like the US and the USSR. However, the 24 states attending the conference were quite “heterogeneous” in terms of their political systems and foreign policies. For instance, Türkiye was at the table as a NATO member, while the People's Republic of China acted almost as a representative of the USSR.

Formalization and the Belgrade Conference: The Non-Aligned Movement, which fundamentally advocated not being affiliated with any bloc or military alliance, had its first official organization in 1961 through the initiatives of Yugoslav leader Tito and Egyptian President Nasser. At the conference held in Belgrade in September 1961 with the participation of 25 neutral countries, a 25-point declaration was published, and a clear call for peace was made to both the US and Soviet Russia.

Key Resolutions of the Belgrade Declaration:

• Absolute opposition to all forms of colonialism.
• Condemnation of racial discrimination (Apartheid) in the Republic of South Africa.
• Recognition of all legitimate rights of the Palestinian-Arab people.
• The necessity of dismantling foreign military bases in other countries.
• The prohibition of nuclear weapons and the need for general disarmament.

Jawaharlal Nehru, Barrister-at-Law

Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964)

Born in 1889, Nehru completed his education in England and returned to India, where he became the president of the political party known as the “Indian National Congress.” He was arrested in 1942 during the “Quit India!” protests organized against British rule. Remaining imprisoned until the end of World War II, Nehru became the first Prime Minister of independent India, which was established in 1947. He served in this esteemed position until his death in 1964.

Up to this point, we have examined the relations between America, the Soviets, and China; now we are turning our course to the Middle East. Our upcoming blog will be a long and intensive one. In this section, we will cover the Arab-Israeli Wars that shaped the Middle East, namely the 1967 Six-Day War and the 1973 Arab-Israeli War (Yom Kippur). Following that, we will discuss the Camp David Accords and the developing Egypt-Israel relations around this axis, and finally, we will complete this long blog with the establishment of the Islamic Conference.

The End of Empires: Indian Independence, Vietnam, and the African Awakening

In a new section, we will look at the Indian independence movement and the Pakistan issue, which perhaps we are all somewhat familiar with. Muhammad Ali Jinnah's role in this process is highly important; he is the founder and the first Governor-General of independent Pakistan. With Britain's withdrawal from the region in 1947, the subcontinent was divided into two separate states: India and Pakistan.

Next, we move on to Vietnam. After France withdrew in 1954, Vietnam was divided into two. The US military intervention to support the South sparked a long and exhausting war. Following years of conflict, the US was forced to withdraw from the region, and Vietnam was ultimately unified.

Finally, we will briefly explain the events in Africa and conclude our article. After World War II, colonies in Africa rapidly began to gain their independence. To increase solidarity among themselves and act jointly against foreign interventions, these newly independent African states established the Organization of African Unity in 1963.

Gandhi leading his followers on the Salt March to abolish the British salt laws

Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of the Indian Independence Movement, initially adopted a peaceful philosophy of independence and resistance for the civil rights of the Indian community in South Africa. After returning to India from Africa, he organized poor farmers and labourers to protest against oppressive taxation policies and widespread discrimination. By assuming the leadership of the Indian National Congress, he led nationwide campaigns aimed at reducing poverty, liberating women, fostering brotherhood among different religious and ethnic groups, ending caste and untouchability discrimination, achieving economic self-sufficiency, and most importantly, attaining “Swaraj”, the liberation of India from foreign domination. Gandhi spearheaded his country's rebellion against Britain with his famous 400-kilometer “Gandhi Salt March” in 1930 against the British Salt Tax, and in 1942, he openly called on the British to leave India. Ultimately, having emerged quite exhausted from World War II, Britain could no longer resist the developments in the region and was forced to recognize India’s independence on August 14, 1947.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Mahatma Gandhi

The name “Pakistan” was actually first proposed in 1940 by Muslim students studying in England, and until 1940, the Muslim population of the subcontinent shared the same independence struggle as India. The turning point came at the Lahore Congress, where Jinnah led the decision to establish a separate Muslim state. However, the turning point occurred on March 23, 1940, at the Muslim League Congress held in Lahore under the leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. At this congress, the decision was made to partition India between Muslims and non-Muslims and to establish a completely separate State of Pakistan. The chief architect of this process and the leader of the Muslim Nationalist Movement, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, became the founder and the first governor-general (head of state) of Pakistan when the country gained its independence on August 14, 1947. Even after independence, Jinnah fought tirelessly for Pakistan's rights against India, particularly during the Kashmir Dispute, until he passed away on September 11, 1948.

American Huey helicopters inserting South Vietnamese ARVN troops, 1970

Let’s move on to Vietnam, the unhealing wound of Asia. In Vietnam, which became a French colony in the 19th century, France’s severe economic exploitation and political oppression naturally sparked a strong national resistance movement. The communists, who formed the strongest wing of this resistance, gained momentum in the 1930s and established the Vietnam Independence League, known as the Viet Minh, in 1941. When Japan, which had occupied the country during World War II, surrendered in 1945, Viet Minh forces seized power in Hanoi, and their leader Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam’s independence. However, France, unwilling to let go of its colony, managed to suppress this national movement in the south but attempted to re-establish its colonial regime in the north. This sparked the bloody Indochina Wars that lasted from 1946 to 1954. The war ultimately ended when France suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. Finally, under the decisions of the Geneva Accords signed on July 21, 1954, the country was temporarily divided into two separate states along the 17th Parallel: the communist-controlled Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the north and the Republic of Vietnam in the south.

Troops of the King's African Rifles on watch for Mau Mau rebels

Finally, we turn our attention to Africa. The devastating impacts of World War II shook colonial powers like Germany, Belgium, Portugal, and the Netherlands, alongside Britain and France. Meanwhile, rising economic strength and the strengthening of nationalism in African states began to bring an end to colonialism on the continent. The first bold step on this path was taken by Ghana, which gained its independence from Britain in 1957, and was quickly followed by Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Uganda, and Tanganyika.

In Kenya, things were a bit harsher; the rebellion launched by the “Mau Mau” secret society against Britain in 1952 culminated in independence in 1963. Moving on to the French front, the largest and bloodiest independence struggle occurred in Algeria. France had used Algeria as a resistance base during World War II in 1942, but when the war ended, they responded to the Algerians’ demands for independence or equal rights in return for their sacrifices with severe backlash and massacres. Even though France declared it “French territory” rather than a colony in 1948 to the outside world, they continued to rule it as a colony and denied the Algerian people equal rights.

Consequently, a massive armed struggle began in 1954 as the public organized under the leadership of the National Liberation Front and the Algerian National Movement. Although France recognized the independence of Morocco and Tunisia in 1956 just to hold onto Algeria, these two newly freed countries provided support to the Algerian resistance. Ultimately, the struggle succeeded, and independence was achieved with the signing of the Evian Accords in 1962, establishing the Democratic People's Republic of Algeria. While all this was happening in the north, foreign rule in Libya, which had been under Italian control since 1911, ended in 1951 with the help of the Allied powers. The Kingdom of Libya was formed, and it quickly joined the Arab League in 1953 and the UN in 1955.

OAU during its foundation

Organization of African Unity

The countries that gained their independence in Africa chose not to take part in any bloc in the polarized world of the Cold War. Instead, to collectively ensure economic development, they established the Organization of African Unity (OAU) on May 25, 1963, with its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The primary goals of this organization, which had 32 founding members, were to support the independence of African countries, to ensure unity and solidarity by preventing conflicts on the continent, and to improve international relations. Thus, the Africa file was closed with a sense of continental awakening and solidarity.

Thus, we have completed the great awakening, division, and independence processes in Asia and Africa under the shadow of the Cold War. As we conclude these historical events that rewrote the destinies of continents here, we are already starting our preparations for the next chapter. In our next article, we will turn our course back to our immediate geography and discuss those critical developments that occurred right around our borders and directly affected our history: the Balkan Alliance, the Syrian Crisis, and the Saadabad Pact.