For readers of a certain age, Bandung in Indonesia recalls a time of tremendous hope and progress. It was there in 1955 that the Non Aligned Movement of countries in what we now call the Global South was in effect born.
A great conference of newly independent nations was held the West Java city. Attending were Nehru from India, Nasser from Egypt, Zhou Enlai from China (who narrowly survived an assassination attempt on his way to the gathering) and many others - all hosted by President Sukarno of Indonesia, who had led the vast country's independence struggle against Dutch colonialism.
It was Sukharno who was more determined than most to ensure that these countries banded together to have a major voice on the world stage. The process was formalised at a further conference in Tito's Belgrade.
Quite naturally, the newly independent states had varying outlooks and policies, internal and external. But they shared a vision of economic development freed from the worst excesses of Western-dominated capitalism and of an implacable opposition to colonial or imperialist interference.
