Memories of a new world order : a study of Egypt’s participation at the Bandung Conference of 1955

The Afro-Asian Conference of 1955 was a political and cultural milestone for newly independent African, Asian, and Middle Eastern nations. Held in Bandung, Indonesia, delegates of the conference pledged to support one another to avoid excessive dependence on former colonizers, a policy that would later be known as “non-alignment” or “positive neutralism,” and would define the relationship of many “Third World” countries with Western states during the Cold War. While the conference has been a frequent subject of interest in postcolonial and area studies, it has been discussed significantly less in international relations literature. One reason for this disregard is the lack of interdisciplinary work on the subject, which has resulted in isolated theorizing. Using Egyptian experiences and histories surrounding the Bandung Conference, this report seeks to apply analyses from postcolonial studies to critique accounts of Afro-Asian solidarity in international relations literature.