Explain why some countries chose to be nonaligned. What did they fear, and what did they have to gain by remaining neutral?

They feared becoming involved in war and conflict. What they had to gain was a better path toward peaceful development of their nations.

Details:

As the superpowers in the Cold War, the USA and the USSR, sought to line up countries in allegiance with their positions, a group of nations emphasized the importance for remaining non-aligned. One of the leaders of the non-alignment movement, Jawaharlal Nehru, said in a speech in 1948: "When we say our policy is one of non-alignment, obviously we mean non-alignment with military blocs." The Non-Aligned Movement held its first conference in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in 1961. The members of the movement saw the siding up being done in the Cold War as a path to increasing world tension and conflict, and sought to remain non-aligned for the sake of preserving peace and equal opportunity for development.