Cold War Asia
A Visual History of Global Diplomacy

This innovative, interdisciplinary collection uses visual sources to explore the role of Asia in Cold War global diplomacy.

Matthew Phillips (Edited by), Naoko Shimazu (Edited by)

9781009379618, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 6 February 2025

252 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 1.9 cm, 0.51 kg

'After ploughing through the book, readers will find no overreach to the project's claim of being 'innovative, interdisciplinary and international'. It is a must-read visual treat for all Cold War scholars worth their salt. The contributors should be proud of this groundbreaking project - a fine example of how historical scholarship can respond to the contemporary, for the world remains ever image-conscious, driven by screens, selfies, and socials.' Muhammad Suhail Mohamed Yazid, Cambridge Review of International Affairs

This innovative, interdisciplinary and international collection of essays offers fresh perspectives on the history of global diplomacy. Experts in history, international relations, art history and performance art have come together to examine a series of visual sources relating to Asia's role in global diplomacy during the Cold War. They explore how leaders, including Indonesia's Sukarno, the Philippines' Imelda Marcos and Thailand's King Bhumibol, exploited the symbolic value of diplomacy to emphasise their agency in relationships with Great Powers. These case studies demonstrate the significance of Asian diplomacy in understanding the Cold War, shifting away from the use of 'war' as the dominant criterion for analysis of the region. Cold War Asia sheds critical light onto how culture shapes international relations, widening the lens of analysis to embed the role of gender, religion, and ethnicity, as well as the material world, into our understanding of diplomacy.

List of illustrations
List of contributors
Acknowledgements
Introduction: visual sources and diplomacy Matthew Phillips and Naoko Shimazu
1. Reframing non-alignment: Tito, Sukarno and the 1961 Belgrade conference Dejan Djokić
2. In the image of Imelda: the surrogate diplomacy of the First Lady Patrick Flores
3. Meeting of the kings: the dream factory and cold war diplomacy Jirayudh Sinthuphan
4. Conquering the world: King Bhumibol's 1960 visit to Burma on film Matthew Phillips
5. Between style and substance: West German president Heinrich Lübke in Indonesia in 1963 Christian Goeschel
6. A photograph with two stories: Lisa Larsen and the bandung conference of 1955 Naoko Shimazu
7. Waxwork wars: exhibiting the Japanese surrender over half a century in Singapore Paul Rae
8. Cosmic envoy: interkosmos and the poetics of late socialist spaceflight Gerard Sasges
9. A diplomatic image and its afterlife: Bangkok 1967 and ASEAN's creation myth Deepak Nair
10. Picturing power: a photographer's view Tom White
Index.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS]