Bad timing for ASEAN peacekeeping force<\/p>\n
The Strait Times, Asia News Network, Singapore<\/p>\n
Indonesia has been pushing the idea of an ASEAN Security
\nCommunity since the leaders' summit in Bali last November. It
\nwants ASEAN to break new ground by playing an active role in
\nresolving regional conflicts. To do this, Jakarta favors the
\ncreation of an ASEAN peacekeeping force that could be deployed
\nwhen there is trouble in any of the 10 member-states. Its Foreign
\nMinister Hassan Wirajuda thinks that this can bolster regional
\nsecurity and build the foundation for more security cooperation
\namong South-east Asian countries.<\/p>\n
But his ASEAN colleagues are cool to the proposal. Singapore's
\nForeign Minister S. Jayakumar said ASEAN was the wrong entity to
\nplay a peacekeeping role because it was neither a security nor a
\ndefense organization. His Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Dy Nien
\nshares this view. It was \"too early\" to think of setting up a
\npeacekeeping force, Nien said. \"Each country has its own policy
\nabout politics and the military.\"<\/p>\n
Note that they had not rejected the Indonesian proposal
\noutright. Indeed, the idea to set up an ASEAN Security Community
\nby 2020 had been endorsed by the region's leaders. But an ASEAN
\npeacekeeping force is an idea that is ahead of its time. There is
\nno pressing need for it now. Above all, there are practical
\ndifficulties to overcome, as things stand.<\/p>\n
It would quickly become problematic when actual deployment of
\npeacekeepers breaches ASEAN's hallowed principle of non-
\ninterference in each other's domestic affairs. This principle has
\nlong governed ASEAN relations and scrupulous adherence to it has
\nkept the peace in the region. Deploying an ASEAN peacekeeping
\nforce is bound to breach this principle and create new problems.
\nThe separatist conflicts in Indonesia's Aceh province, the
\nPhilippines' Mindanao island, and Thailand's southern provinces
\nspring to mind. These are sensitive domestic security issues that
\nhave regional implications.<\/p>\n
True, security and economics are two sides of the same coin.
\nThere is nothing to prevent ASEAN countries from pursuing
\neconomic and security integration simultaneously. There is ample
\nscope to develop these ideas. But for now, there is no agreement
\non the need for a peacekeeping force. The regional entity is
\nstill in the midst of an uphill battle to speed up economic
\nrecovery in the face of growing competition from China and India.
\nIt makes more sense for ASEAN to focus its energies on
\nestablishing an economic community first.<\/p>",
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