In April 1955, a city in West Java became the unassuming stage for a revolution in diplomacy. Leaders from 29 nations across Asia and Africa, most newly independent, converged in Bandung, Indonesia, to chart a path free from the Cold War’s suffocating binaries.
Seven decades later, the legacy of that gathering – known as the Bandung Conference – still lingers, though the world it sought to reshape has transformed beyond recognition. Now, with multipolarity re-emerging as a driving geopolitical force, the principles of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) are being tested in ways its architects could not have foreseen.
Indonesia’s founding president Sukarno described the Asia-Africa Conference at Bandung as “the first intercontinental conference of coloured peoples in the history of mankind”. It promoted a platform of 10 principles including peaceful coexistence, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, equality among nations, non-aggression, and non-interference in domestic affairs.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of that summit, but commemorations are expected to be subdued. While Indonesia celebrated the 50th and 60th anniversaries with grand gatherings under former presidents Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Joko Widodo, the country’s foreign ministry has announced there will be no “major” event to mark the occasion this time.
Indonesia’s then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (centre) with China’s Hu Jintao (left), India’s Manmohan Singh (right) and other officials at the 50th anniversary of the Bandung Conference in 2005. Photo: EPA-EFE
For some, the decision represents a “missed opportunity” for Indonesia to reassert its leadership in the Global South. But other analysts suggest it reflects President Prabowo Subianto’s broader recalibration of foreign policy – one that prioritises pragmatic partnerships over symbolic gestures.
While retaining Indonesia’s traditional bebas dan aktif (independent and active) diplomatic stance, Prabowo has embraced a more personal, efficiency-driven leadership style. Analysts see his decision not to host a high-profile anniversary event for the Bandung Conference as emblematic of a changed geopolitical reality: a world where multipolarity has replaced the old bipolar and unipolar systems.
