ACTUALIZING BANDUNG SPIRIT IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD: THE STUDY OF INDONESIA AND EAST AFRICAN COUNTRIES RELATIONS

The Bandung Conference 1955 is an essential foundation of Indonesia and Eastern African nations under the scope of the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Nairobi, Kenya. Yet, contemporary trends in trade, investment, and diplomatic engagement indicate that revitalizing this spirit requires new approaches amid a global economy driven by pragmatic interests.Therefore, this paper studies how the Bandung Conference spirit of solidarity is exercised in the contemporary Indonesia and Eastern Africa nations relations especially in terms of economy and politics. The paper uses the perspective international cooperation theory in scope of the global political economy which emphasizes that there are essential reciprocal relations between aspects of politics and economics between two actors in global politics with the insight from postcolonialism. Furthermore, this paper utilizes a qualitative research approach based on qualitative data for both primary and secondary data with direct observation as paramount data collecting method.This paper contributes to the academic discourse by bridging historical ideals with contemporary realities, offering a refined framework that extends traditional notions of solidarity to address modern economic imperatives. The findings suggest that although the Bandung legacy remains a pivotal theoretical foundation, its principles are inadequately reflected in both state and non-state interactions, as evidenced by limited trade volumes, modest diplomatic initiatives, and weak reciprocity in business relations. The study concludes that actualizing the Bandung spirit in contemporary Indonesia–Eastern Africa relations should prioritize enhancing collaboration among business sectors and other non-state actors.