Bandung Revisited: The Legacy of the 1955 Asian-african Conference for International Order

The 1955 Asian-African conference (the 'Bandung Conference') was a meeting of 29 Asian and African nations that sought to draw on Asian and African nationalism and religious traditions to forge a new international order that was neither communist nor capitalist. It led six years later to the non-aligned movement. Few would dispute the notion that the inaugural meeting in 1955 was a watershed in international history, but there is much disagreement about its long-term legacy and its significance for present-day international affairs. Determining the what, why and how of this monumental event remains a challenge for students of the Conference and of Third World international politics. Was it a post-colonial ideological reaction to the passing of the age of empire or an innovative effort to promote a new regionalism based on mutual goodwill and strong regional ties? Were its principles of peaceful coexistence a rhetorical flourish or a substantive policy initiative? Did the Conference help define North-South relations? And in what way did the Conference contribute to the regional order of contemporary Asia?

The authors in the present volume argue that the Bandung Conference had a lasting normative influence on the contemporary regional order of Asia, and that it underlies the diplomatic principles and loosely defined normative framework that characterize present-day Asian international relations.