Bandung’s message for the Age of Trump

Seventy years ago, the Bandung Conference marked a defining moment of postcolonial solidarity. Twenty-nine newly independent nations, including Pakistan, gathered in Indonesia to assert their place in a world dominated by Cold War superpowers. The message was bold and clear: sovereignty, self-determination and the pursuit of a multipolar world order. More than a diplomatic milestone, the summit offered a blueprint for a just and balanced global system, captured in the ten-point Bandung Declaration.

Today, as we commemorate that historic gathering, the principles of Bandung are more relevant than ever. The world once again teeters on the edge — not along Cold War lines, but under the weight of growing unilateralism, with the United States under Donald Trump at its vanguard.

The irony is stark. The US, long the architect of the post-WWII liberal economic order, now appears intent on dismantling it. Trump's return to the White House has reignited a more aggressive campaign of economic nationalism, marked by contempt for multilateralism and the very institutions that have upheld global stability for decades. His sweeping tariffs — aimed at China but affecting allies as well — go far beyond trade policy. They strike at the heart of the rules-based system America once helped build.

The tremors are global. The World Trade Organisation, already weakened during Trump’s first term, has been further debilitated by his refusal to honour its appellate processes. His administration has openly threatened withdrawal — just as it did with the WHO, UNESCO and the Paris Climate Agreement. The logic is blunt: if it doesn’t serve “America First,” Trump wants out.

But this brand of economic unilateralism hasn’t made America great — it has triggered economic whiplash. Markets have seesawed amid tit-for-tat tariffs, multinational firms have scrambled to reroute supply chains and foreign investment is drying up in the face of mounting uncertainty. The damage isn’t just structural — it’s psychological, eroding global trust in the US as a reliable partner.

China’s response has been swift and precise, underscoring a core reality of globalisation: economic war is never one-sided. The fallout is a cascade of unintended consequences.

Compounding the crisis is Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric. His statements aren’t just undiplomatic — they border on the grotesque. They betray a worldview hostile to diplomacy, cooperation and mutual respect. The Bandung spirit — born of resistance to imperial arrogance — would find such language depressingly familiar.

What’s needed now is not nostalgia for a bygone liberal order, but a revival of Bandung’s legacy adapted for our fractured present. Middle powers and emerging economies must step into the void. The future lies in deeper regional cooperation — from BRICS to ASEAN, from the African Union to the European Union — and a renewed commitment to multilateral frameworks capable of withstanding superpower volatility.

The Bandung Declaration provides a model for this renewal. It calls for respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity — values under threat from Trump’s transactional worldview. His economic coercion — via tariffs, subsidies and trade threats — is precisely the kind of big-power pressure Bandung warned against.

The declaration’s principle of non-interference clashes directly with Trump’s strong-arming of partners like Mexico and Canada and his public derision of global institutions and foreign leaders.

Crucially, the Bandung communiqué encouraged the Global South to loosen economic dependence on industrial powers. In practice, this meant sharing technology, building regional research centres and fostering collective self-reliance. Today, it means reinvigorating South-South cooperation, expanding intra-regional trade and reducing exposure to erratic global hegemonies.

Trumpism may be loud, but it is not destiny. The Global South has seen this play before: colonial extraction rebranded as self-interest, disorder masquerading as strength. The antidote remains what it was in 1955: solidarity, coordination and the courage to reject a world dictated by one man’s whims.

Seventy years ago, Bandung gave voice to the voiceless. Today, amid Trump’s chaotic unipolarity, the Global South — and principled voices in the North — must reaffirm their commitment to those ten enduring principles. Rooted in justice, cooperation, peaceful coexistence and equality, they are not relics of a postcolonial past. They are the scaffolding for a future in which power yields to principle.