‘Neither East nor West, but forward together’ – Ghana's President renews Nkrumah’s foreign policy vision
Ghana has renewed its commitment to the foreign-policy principles championed by its first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, calling for a world order where nations can pursue their interests without being drawn into competing geopolitical blocs.
Speaking in Belgrade, 65 years after the historic conference that gave birth to the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama said Nkrumah’s vision of an independent foreign policy remains relevant in today’s increasingly fragmented world.
Nkrumah was among the prominent leaders who gave political expression to the Non-Aligned Movement at the 1961 Belgrade Conference, alongside Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and Indonesian President Sukarno.
President Mahama recalled Nkrumah’s conviction that independence should go beyond political freedom and include the ability of nations to make their own decisions on international affairs.
In articulating that position, Nkrumah declared “we neither face east or west, we face forward”.
Mahama said that principle shaped its decision not to become aligned with either side of the Cold War rivalry, but instead to pursue peace, sovereignty and the right of nations to determine their own destinies.
“We want to be friends of all and enemies to none,” President Mahama said, reaffirming the approach associated with Nkrumah’s foreign policy.
President Mahama, however, said the meaning of non-alignment has evolved since the Cold War.
Mahama pointed to renewed geopolitical competition, economic vulnerabilities, unequal access to finance and technology, climate change and the limited representation of developing countries in global decision-making as modern pressures threatening the strategic autonomy of the Global South.
Mahama therefore argued that non-alignment should not be interpreted as passivity.
Instead, it should involve active engagement and collective action by developing countries to influence global affairs.
“In an increasingly fragmented and multipolar world, the non-aligned movement must preserve its strategic autonomy and resist the pressures of the politics of power blocs,” Mahama said.
President Mahama added that NAM must neither become a silent observer of global events nor an instrument of competing geopolitical interests, but should serve as an independent collective voice for peace, dialogue, disarmament, development and justice.
Mahama also stressed that non-alignment cannot mean neutrality when countries face injustice, conflict or violations of international law.
According to Mahama, the movement remains relevant because of its potential to advance the interests of the Global South and push for a fairer international economic order.
Sixty-five years after the first Belgrade Conference, Mahama said its direction remains unchanged.
“Neither East nor West, but forward together,” Mahama declared, invoking Nkrumah’s philosophy while calling on NAM members to turn their collective strength into practical action for their people.