Poverty: One of the biggest problems arises from the fact that the members of the non- aligned movement are poor and formerly colonies.  They are the third world nations, which experienced oppression and exploitation from decade to decade.

Attachment to Soviet Union: Due to political and economic inability, the poor members find themselves inevitably looking for foreign aid from the big powers yet they do not want to associate with them. The communist bloc for instance, was instrumental in the fight for independence. It financed, gave moral and logistical support to many developing countries.

Neo-colonialism: It has found it hard to make members condemn and abandon the neo-colonialism in the independent poor states.  For instance, we have the Anglophone and Francophone states which continue to have direct dealings with the former colonial masters.

Poor economies: Poverty has made the members of the movement vulnerable to the scheming of the powerful exploitative states.  Financial institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF have greatly influenced the economies of the non-aligned members. The same influence has infiltrated into the politics of these members.  Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda are examples.

Ideological differences: In countries such as Cuba, Libya and the Latin America, ideological imbalance has infiltrated too much such that communism is more evident for instance in Cuba.  Some leaders within the non-aligned have developed differences. Libya, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Sudan, Uganda have many issues which divide them. In 1990, Gadaffi accused the movement for watching on while the USA was molesting the government of Libya while Iran stormed out the meeting simply because Iraq was not blamed for starting the war, and using chemical weapon on Iran.

Failure to isolate: It also at times failed to safeguard the sovereignty of some of its member states.  For instance, despite threats, on its neighbours by South Africa, some continued to interact politically and economically with South Africa.

Regional problems: Has also failed to address its self to regional problems.  Example is the India/Pakistan poor relations, the Iran-Iraq war that took eight years. Today, Yugoslavia has been reduced to ruins as though it was not a member of the movement

Coups: Its failure to control coups and condemn military leadership and impose sanctions has been one of the major setbacks.  Many countries like Nigeria, Algeria, Ghana, Gambia, Sudan, Somali, Rwanda, Chad, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Gambia, Togo, etc have been experiencing the worst military leadership ever known.

Failure to liberate some countries: Some liberation fronts have failed to come near any success such as the Spanish Sahara organization (POLISARIO) and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO)

No economic order: It has also failed to achieve the New World economic order despite being top in the agenda.  Member states will continue trading with non-members and worse still, with the former colonizers.  The result has been manipulation by the donor nations economically and socially.

Ignorance and disease: The third world countries have not moved away from ignorance, poverty and disease, phenomena that are no longer known in the developed countries.

Mass media: In the field of mass media, a lot is desired because the super powers are still leading and the propaganda has continued to dominate more especially the capitalist bloc now that the socialist bloc is in tatters.