# For the Freedom of Nations!

"For the Freedom of Nations!" Movement (Russian: Движение "За свободу наций!". Full title reads "Forum of Supporters of the Struggle against Modern Practices of Neocolonialism - "For the Freedom of Nations!") is an Russia-led inter-party movement uniting various political parties of the states of the Second World and Global South with the stated aim of countering modern manifestations of colonialism.
The movement was officially created in February 2024 on the initiative of the United Russia Party after the founding General Assembly of the "Forum of Supporters of the Fight against Modern Practices of Neocolonialism" was held in Moscow. Since then, political parties from more than 50 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, Europe and the CIS have joined the movement.

## Ideological background

Countering modern neocolonial practices is understood by supporters as the main goal of the "For the Freedom of Nations!" Movement. These practices include the imposition of sanctions and restrictive measures, weaponization of currencies, cultural indoctrination, falsification of history, information and psychological campaigns, etc. The Movement positions itself as a Forum for consolidation of the political movements from countries of the Global South.
The term "neocolonialism" itself emerged in the 1960s, with Kwame Nkrumah, President of Ghana at the time, being the first to mention it in his book "Neocolonialism: the Last Stage of Imperialism". In 1965, Cuban revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara gave a speech in which he criticized the domination of some countries over others, which he also called neocolonialism.
   ""Africa is, one might say, an almost untouched field for neocolonialist invasion. Here we saw changes that forced the colonial powers to give up their former absolute rights. However, in those cases where these changes occurred slowly and non-violently, colonialism invariably developed into neo-colonialism From the point of view of economic dominance, one is no different from the other". Ernesto Che Guevara
The ideological basis for the "For the Freedom of Nations!" Movement was expressed in Chairman of the United Russia Party Dmitry Medvedev's article entitled "The time of the metropolises is up". In it, he identifies several types of neocolonialism, which the Movement is called upon to fight, namely: sanctions, monetary, debt, cultural-ideological, legal, regulatory, "friendly" and its other types.

## Members

The movement is informal in nature, so it has no official membership criteria. The structure of the movement includes a Standing Committee, which includes political movements from 20 countries of the world.
The founding General Assembly of the "Forum of Supporters of the Struggle against Modern Practices of Neocolonialism - "For the Freedom of Nations!" was attended by 50 political movements, including 6 European, 23 Asian, 14 African and 7 Latin American ones.

## Structure
### Standing Committee

The Standing Committee is the main executive institution of the movement. Dmitry Medvedev, Chairman of the United Russia Party was elected as the Chairman of the Standing Committee at the inaugural General Assembly. It also has two deputy chairmen, namely, Andrey Klimov, senator of the Russian Federation, and Evgeniy Ivanov, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, The Standing Committee comprises 20 political movements:
Members of the Standing Committee of the "For the Freedom of Nations!" Movement :
| Political party | Country |
| National Liberation Front | Algeria |
| Yeni Azerbaijan | Azerbaijan |
| Belaya Rus Party | Belarus |
| Worker's Party | Brazil |
| Chinese Communist Party | China |
| Communist Party of Cuba | Cuba |
| Golkar | Indonesia |
| Lao People's Revolutionary Party | Laos |
| Free Patriotic Movement | Lebanon |
| FRELIMO | Mozambique |
| Union Solidarity and Development Party | Myanmar |
| Sandinista National Liberation Front | Nicaragua |
| Pakistan Muslim League | Pakistan |
| United Russia | Russia |
| Serbian People's Party | Serbia |
| Ba'ath Party | Syria |
| African National Congress | South Africa |
| People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan | Tajikistan |
| United Socialist Party of Venezuela | Venezuela |
| Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) | Zimbabwe |
The Standing Committee regularly holds discussions on key issues regarding the development and future activities of the Movement. It makes decisions on the strategic directions of the Movement's activities, determines the places and dates of regular and extraordinary General Assemblies, and also approves draft programmes and final documents. The Standing Committee was formed on the basis of the Organizing Committee, which functioned until the founding General Assembly of the Movement in February 2024.
Meetings of the (Organizing) Standing Committee of the "For the Freedom of Nations!" Movement :
| No. | Date | Place |
| 1 | 30.03.2023 | Moscow |
| 2 | 31.05.2023 | via videoconference |
| 3 | 21.11.2023 | via videoconference |
| 4 | 16.02.2024 | Moscow |
| 5 | 17.06.2024 | Vladivostok |

### General Assemblies

General Assemblies of the "For the Freedom of Nations!" Movement are large-scale events, which are held every two years. The first one took place on February 15–17, 2024 in Moscow, Russia. Currently, plans are underway to hold the next General Assemblies in Latin America and Africa.

### Expert Council and Coordination Working Group

The decision to create the Expert Council and the Coordination Working Group of the "For the Freedom of Nations!" Movement was adopted at the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Movement in Vladivostok, Russia, on June 17, 2024.

## Criticism

"For the Freedom of Nations!" Movement is criticized for being overly ideological and having a distorted view of neocolonialism. Political scientist M. Komin, in an article for the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), writes that the movement did not lead to any serious results, except for a call to consider December 14 as the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Colonialism.
Political scientist S. Sukhankin writes for the Jamestown Foundation that the emphasis of Russian politicians on the neocolonial agenda is largely based on successful campaigns to "disinformation" the peoples of Africa and Asia and is not very successful in the long term. Criticism of the Movement was also published by Chatham House.