My project concerns the important, yet under-examined, 1955 Afro-Asian conference held in Bandung, Indonesia.  Sponsored by Indonesia, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Burma, and Ceylon, the Bandung conference brought together twenty-nine delegations from newly postcolonial countries as well as European colonies on the verge of achieving independence.  Held amidst the wave of decolonization then taking hold globally, it expressed and symbolized the aspirations of “Third World” leaders who sought to play a direct role in shaping the postcolonial world order.  Statesmen such as Jawaharlal Nehru of India, Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, and Zhou Enlai of China attended as well as various intellectual figures, with Richard Wright, the African-American writer, perhaps being the best known having written a subsequent account of the conference entitled The Color Curtain (1956).  The most significant outcome of the meeting was its role in laying the groundwork for the establishment of the Non-Aligned Movement in 1961.  This coalition sought an alternative to the U.S.-U.S.S.R. framework of international politics that had developed since the end of the Second World War, and its legacy continues today. Overall, the importance of the Bandung Conference is that it represents a defining moment between the colonial and the post-colonial worlds, as well as constituting a key occasion of tricontinental solidarity during the early Cold War era.      
    As a visitor at CRASSH, my intention is to pursue research and writing on the precursors and afterlives of the Bandung moment.  The history of Afro-Asian relations has drawn increasing attention among historians, particularly those involved in Indian Ocean studies.  However, much of this work has focused on the pre-colonial and colonial periods.  The intention of this project is to address the postcolonial period.  Using Bandung as a focal point, my general goal is to write a global history of the Cold War from the perspective of African and Asian countries, thus contrasting with many current interpretations of this period.  For the most part, work by scholars such as John Lewis Gaddis has drawn attention to the relationship between the U.S. and Soviet Union via the theater of Europe, leaving aside more complex engagements that occurred in Africa and Asia.  Following recent studies by historians such as Odd Arne Westad, this project instead aims to better account for the perspectives of African and Asian nations during this period, specifically how anti-colonial activism transformed into moments of tricontinental solidarity.  At a conceptual level, this project also seeks to revise mainstream understandings of imperialism and transnationalism that have concentrated on the connections between European metropoles and their colonies.  Instead, emphasis is placed on the political and intellectual connections between anti-colonial activists and postcolonial leaders on both continents.  South-South, rather than North-South, relations take precedence.
    In sum, this project challenges conventional thinking found in area studies and Cold War studies.  It consequently speaks directly to themes of cultural transmission and disciplinary change as defined by the CRASSH program, by exploring the meaning and impact of modern historical connections within the Afro-Asian world.  I have already finished an edited volume on this topic as listed in my curriculum vitae, and I expect to complete a significant amount of writing while at CRASSH.  Overall, Afro-Asian relations continue to grow in importance as relations between China and Sub-Saharan Africa demonstrate today.  I intend for this project to contribute to academic discussions on this topic, in addition to helping historicize this contemporary political dialogue.