Introduction
The history of sovereignty has long been considered to be the history of Westphalia’s extension. Now, the Third World countries are not enjoying their sovereignty regime due to the interference by the Western countries. After the Second World War, it was important for the Third World states to develop and maintain juridical sovereignty. Instead of freedom being based on the idea of nations, there was a shift towards ‘negative’ sovereignty, defined as ‘freedom with little interference’, as non-intervention and sovereignty are similar in many respects. The term later became the definition of decolonization as colonies were not leaving their subjects entirely alone. However, sovereignty was not simply a by-product of decolonization: for the new states to be decolonization-free, they had to fight for universal sovereignty, defending it through discourse and debate. When they became independent, these states acquired an agency role, important for the further diffusion of sovereignty in the world.
The Third World countries had to strategize means that could enable them to escape the pangs of the powerful countries by first claiming neutrality when a fight broke between the states. Through this, they could move away from the negative sovereignty, which allowed articulating norms and conducts that could govern them in the post-war global order. It is also important to note that the non-interference norm was not developed by the North-South contestation as much as it was by the debate between the Southern countries themselves. Discussion about it can be traced to different conferences and the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung in particular. Even though most countries understand the value of sovereignty, Third World states differ significantly in their interpretations of its norms. Thus, the first meeting- Bandung (1955) of the people of color in the history of humanity occurred in Asia after World War II. Five states sponsored the meeting: India, Pakistan, Ceylon, Burma, and Indonesia, and 29 countries from Asia and Africa attended.
The content of the conference
The Bandung conference focused on Sovereignty, military alliances and non-intervention, and other Cold War issues. The two objectives of the conference were to 1. Continue to struggle toward full national independence and determine the standards and procedures of present-day international relations. 2. formulate and establish certain norms for the conduct of present-day international relations. Moreover, non-interference emerged as the key norm in Asian countries.
Controversies
The Conference was characterized by two significant controversies: communism and military alliances.
Firstly, in communism, some leaders felt like communism was a newer colonialism form; therefore, leaders should oppose it as they did with Western imperialism. Ceylon, Iraq, Turkey, and some sections of the Philippines, while China saw it as a liberal way of association.
Secondly, regarding the military alliances, Nehru- the first Prime Minister of India after independence, felt that Pakistan’s sovereign status was compromised if they entered into regional pacts. Nehru predicted the existence of spheres of influence led by Turkey as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that could lead to interference in other state affairs. These two controversies were linked as regional pacts could lead to the possibility of sovereignty undermining through communist invasions. This could damage the professed doctrine of non-interference they were propagating. In the end, they decided to eliminate all aspects of colonialism, ranging from imperialism to communism.
Conclusion
This conference adopted Declaration on World Peace which is the most important resolution, and Bandung Declaration offered Ten Principles. All of these made the Bandung conference successful in establishing the new states of Asian and African nations in international relations. Furthermore, the Bandung conference indeed has a normative impact on the legitimacy of great power-led alliances.