Introduction: Internationalism in Times of Nationalism: Yugoslavia, Nonalignment, and the Cold War

• Published in: Nationalities papers Vol. 49; no. 3; pp. 409 - 412
• Main Authors: Spaskovska, Ljubica, Mark, James, Bieber, Florian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01.05.2021
• Subjects: 20th century; Actors; Cold War; Cultural activities; Developing countries; Diplomats; Equality; Foreign policy; Globalization; Hegemony; Industrial democracy; Interdependence; Internationalism; Interwar period; LDCs; Nationalism; Neoliberalism; Neutrality; Political activism; Politicians; Politics; Postcommunist societies; Resistance; Socialism; Socialist societies; Transnationalism; War; Yugoslavia; Asia; Europe; Africa
• ISSN: 0090-5992; 1465-3923
• DOI: 10.1017/nps.2021.19

Nonalignment is often reduced to a few pictures of iconic leaders, such as Jawaharlal Nehru, Gamal Abdel Nasser, and Josip Broz Tito. Its fading significance in the waning days of the Cold War has long meant a neglect of the ties, be they economic, political, social, or cultural, that underpinned the Non-Aligned Movement. Furthermore, a Western-centric view of globalization has often ignored the linkages that bound countries within the Global South with one another and the ties of non–Western European countries, like Yugoslavia, with former colonies. These global blind spots have also been reflected in the case of Yugoslavia, as nonalignment and Yugoslavia’s global role tended to be reduced to the encounters and agency of a small elite circle of politicians and diplomats, along with a tendency to approach the entire spectrum of global engagements through the lens of “Titoism.” This approach led to a simplified view of the complex Yugoslav institutional setup, the downplaying of the multitier nature of the federation’s foreign policy and ignoring the fabric of these connections in multiple spaces of Yugoslav life. This special issue, by contrast, seeks to broaden our understanding in a number of ways. First, this issue takes nonalignment beyond Tito’s inner circle, and it charts the way nonaligned values and practices were forged through a wide range of political, economic, social, and cultural activities, both at home and abroad. Second, the issue contributes to a growing field of research into alternative forms of noncapitalist globalization and the ties of former socialist countries with the Global South, questioning the presumed hegemony of the so-called West in the emergence of global networks.1 In this sense, it seeks to further decenter the bipolar Cold War framework and engage with neglected theories and practices of interdependence, multipolarity, and in-betweenness.2 Third, this issue challenges the idea that this is a “lost world” of the Cold War: nonalignment needs to be read as part of a longer-term 20th-century history of progressive internationalism’s rise and decline. Contributions here explore both its roots in the interwar period and see in the story of its decline important lessons for our understanding of the rise of a western neoliberal globalization, and ongoing resistance to it.