The Four Faces of Bandung: Detainees,Soldiers, Revolutionaries and Statesmen

This article seeks to provide a textured and nuanced conception of the first Asian-African Conference (18-24 April 1955) by structuring four simultaneous, “mosaic” perspectives (for India, China, Indonesia and the Philippines) of that multifaceted event. By eschewing hegemonic “Cold War” and “triumphalist” interpretations, one purposefully avoids a rehash of the roles of the USA and the Soviet Union. Their role, in this study, is peripheral. This article highlights the complexity of the conference by a series of analytical snap shots, multiple focuses, recollections and memories, which emphasise the frequently neglected Babel-like environment of the Bandung Conference. The resulting analysis provides capsules of self-contained experiences rather than one unifying story. Ultimately, the highly contentious and disparate viewpoints that the participants brought to the conference underscored the difficulties that Cold War superpowers experienced in creating political-military blocs friendly to their cause. Third World countries, by the nature of their decolonization process and their political expediencies, succeeded in preventing both the superpowers from creating monolithic blocs.