to the UN.

Led since September 2007 by Castro's Cuba, NAM pulled no punches in citing the UN for "serving the interests of world powers" in the "mismanagement of the global order". Upon closer inspection, as Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's opening speech made clear, what they mean by this is that the UN is merely a lackey of US foreign policy - an assertion that will come as something of a shock to Russia, China and France.

The Iranian president (right) told representatives that the world was entering a "new phase" in which NAM could become a real alternative to the United Nations Security Council, listing various failures by the UN to rein in US power as the key issue. In pursuing this goal, and in its discussion of various policies, what becomes abundantly clear is that NAM's 'new world order' will be distinctly 'anti-American'. And what better place than Tehran to make the point?

NAM leaders also want to impact the 'world information order' which they see as dominated by US, UK and Western

European influence. So a key goal of the conference was to set up 'new media partnerships'. Terrorism too was high on the agenda, and the setting up of a NAM 'human rights and cultural diversity centre' based in Iran.

All of this under discussion by NAM's 118 foreign ministers in the home of the leading state-sponsor of global terrorism; a regime with the dedicated foreign policy aim to 'wipe Israel off the map'; and in a country that rigorously imposes Sharia law, ignoring religious tolerance and human rights, ridicules cultural diversity and denies basic freedoms.
Written in collaboration with Peter Glover.