Rewriting Westphalia and Reviving Bandung: The Historical Trajectory of Nahdlatul Ulama’s Global Islamic Vision

Abstract

This paper explores how the Muslim world today faces a fragmentation that echoes Europe's bloody religious wars prior to the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) and the colonial subjugation that triggered the Bandung Conference (1955). At a time when sectarianism, radicalism, and external securitization threaten the coherence of Islamic civilization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia's largest Muslim organization, emerges as a unique actor striving for renewal. This article examines NU's global initiatives through the dual historical lenses of Westphalia and Bandung, proposing that NU seeks not only to establish a “Muslim Westphalia”—an order based on peaceful coexistence among Islamic traditions—but also to reignite the “Spirit of Bandung”