Next month it will be the 60th anniversary of the first Asian African Conference, held in the Gedung Merdeka in Bandung (West Java) between 18 and 24 April 1955. This conference, which is also known as the Bandung Conference, is regarded as a milestone as it was the first time an encounter took place among 29 Asian and African countries - many of which had just gained independence from western colonizers - with the aim to promote Afro-Asian economic and cultural cooperation as well as to oppose (neo)colonialism.

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Today, exactly 49 years ago, Indonesian President Sukarno reluctantly signed a decree that gave full authority to army commander General Suharto to restore order, protect Sukarno and safeguard the Indonesian revolution. This decree, which would become the start of a brand new chapter in Indonesian history (the New Order) as it marked the transfer of executive power from Sukarno to Suharto, became known as Supersemar (Surat Perintah Sebelas Maret, or, the Decree of 11 March).

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By the mid-1960s, politics and the economy of Indonesia had turned into disaster. After Independence in 1945 (and the cessation of hostilities with the Dutch in 1949), the young nation was plagued by hostile internal politics in which several political forces - consisting of the army, nationalists, Muslims, and communists - opposed each other. For over a decade, Sukarno, Indonesia’s first president, had reasonable success in keeping these forces in check by the force of his own personality. However, by the mid-1960s his failure became evident.

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