Attended by Egypt, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and 25 other countries from Africa and Asia, this was the conference that gave concrete and collective form to the Third World’s call for freedom and independence by launching a new force on the international stage, one that refused to align with either the Western or Eastern bloc.
During the next decade and a half, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), as this new force was called, energised national liberation movements across the Global South. Some believe that NAM has since lost its sense of purpose and became ineffective as members became increasingly distracted by their internal challenges and collapses, which international powers often had a hand in fuelling, if not creating.
Egypt, under president Gamal Abdel-Nasser, played a central role in the success of the Bandung Conference and then in shaping and building the Non-Aligned Movement which quickly became a force to be reckoned with on the global stage. A powerful advocate for the right of peoples to self-determination, NAM became a critical voting bloc in international forums, putting an end to decades in which Third World countries had been isolated, dismissed as insignificant and totally voiceless in such forums.
Given the foregoing, it is no surprise that the call to revive the spirit of Bandung should come from Egypt. In an important paper published by the Future Centre for Advanced Research and Studies in Abu Dhabi and republished in Al-Masry Al-Youm, Fahmi urges the currently fragmented countries of the Global South to emulate the spirit of Bandung and reassemble themselves into a strong and influential international bloc. As he rightfully said, the need for this has become more urgent than ever.
The global order is gripped by rampant chaos and conflict unprecedented since World War II. Mass abuses of human right and breaches of international law and international humanitarian law have escalated, while military spending has reached record levels. This is why Fahmi’s call to revive the Bandung principles is so timely. The spirit of Bandung is precisely about respect for the UN Charter, the sovereignty of nations and international law, and promoting the equality of all peoples and the peaceful resolution of international disputes.
So, will anyone respond to this call?
* A version of this article appears in print in the 1 May, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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