Bandung Conference (1955)

Assembly of twenty-nine developing nations, including many from the Middle East, to discuss international relations, colonialism, and cooperation.

The conference was convened by prime ministers Muhammad Ali of Pakistan, Jawaharlal Nehru of India, U Nu of Burma, Sir John Kotelawala of Ceylon, and Ali Sastroamidjojo of Indonesia. Twenty-nine developing nations assembled in Bandung, Indonesia, in April 1955 to discuss their role in a world dominated by the superpowers. Major issues were colonialism, economic and cultural cooperation, the legitimacy of defense pacts such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), and the viability of peaceful coexistence.

The Middle Eastern states were represented by such leaders as Dr. Charles Malik of Lebanon, Dr. Muhammad Fadhil al-Jamali of Iraq, Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, and Prince Faisal ibn Abd al-Aziz of Saudi Arabia. The conference passed resolutions supporting the independence struggles of Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia against France, and it called for a peaceful settlement of the issue of the Palestinians in accordance with United Nations resolutions.

The Bandung Conference saw Nasser emerge as an international leader. The ties that he established there with Nehru would lead in six years to the first Nonaligned Nations Conference in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

Bibliography

Abdulgani, Roeslan. The Bandung Connection, translated by Molly Bondan. Singapore: Gunung Agung, 1981.

Bell, P. M. H. The World since 1945: An International History. London: Arnold; New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Jansen, G. F. Afro - Asia and Non-Alignment. London and New York: Praeger, 1966.

Wright, Richard. The Color Curtain: A Report on the Bandung Conference. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1995.

— ZACHARY KARABELL