Neutralism definition
Neutralism means "the status of many if not most of the Third World countries who have decided not to be formally involved in alliances with the world’s major economic and military powers, and which remain free to accept aid and support from wherever it is offered" (Robertson 2004: 342). Lyon (1964: 20) defined neutralism as "non-involvement in the cold war." The terms "neutralism" and "non-alignment" were often used interchangeably in the period after the Second World War (Berridge and James 2001: 167). According to Alam (1977: 169-170), neutralism in theory means "the desire to be dissociated from the rivalries of the great powers and to remain outside certain military alliances or other great power entanglements." He maintained that neutralism in practice was related to the idea of non- alignment which he referred to as "non-participation in military pacts with great powers." “Non-alignment” is defined by Berridge and James (2001: 169) as "the policy of refusing to join either of the military alliance systems which were a key feature of the Cold War." According to Collin (2004: 162), the term "non-aligned policy" refers to a policy of not being “formally associated with any major world power."