Globalization: A challenges to RI diplomacy<\/p>\n
By Jusuf Wanandi<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's foreign policy has always been based
\non national interest and other objectives, namely to take part in
\ncommon efforts to establish a world order based on freedom, peace
\nand social justice.<\/p>\n
Indonesian diplomacy pursues an active and independent policy
\n-- active in helping build a world order and independent of any
\npolitical blocs or great powers.<\/p>\n
Through diplomacy based on these principles, Indonesia
\nachieved its own independence in 1945, hosted the Asia-Africa
\nConference in Bandung in 1955, was party to the foundation of
\nASEAN, active in the APEC and ARF processes, IOC, Non-Aligned
\nMovement and in the UN.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has helped lead the developing world in achieving
\ndemocracy and social justice, emphasized new plans of action and
\npriorities for the Non-Aligned Movement and participated in
\nchanging the priorities, programs and structure of the UN.<\/p>\n
To create a strategic environment of peace and stability in
\nthe Asia-Pacific region, Indonesia and other ASEAN countries have
\nhelped establish the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
\nforum and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).<\/p>\n
APEC is important to promoting economic cooperation and
\nopening up the dynamic Asia-Pacific region, while the ARF is
\nimportant for maintaining peace and stability in the region.<\/p>\n
Indonesia played a key role in seeking a solution to the
\nCambodian conflict and joined international efforts to allay
\nnuclear conflagration in the Korean Peninsula. Indonesia's
\npreventive diplomacy continues to help settle disputes in the
\nSouth China Sea as well.<\/p>\n
In the last 50 years, Indonesian diplomacy has led to a
\ngreater role in international affairs and a realization of the
\nvalues embodied in the 1945 Constitution.<\/p>\n
In the longer term, Indonesian foreign policy and diplomacy
\nwill face more complicated challenges. Indonesia must be able to
\ndefine major issues and policies to help shape a new world order,
\nespecially in the Asia-Pacific region.<\/p>\n
There are at least five discernible challenges. The first is
\nthe intricate linkage between domestic developments and foreign
\naffairs, which has largely come about through a globalized
\neconomy, technology, communication and transportation. State
\nsovereignty has been limited by the emergence of international
\nand regional organizations as well as society's smaller groups.<\/p>\n
While the state may still be powerful, minority groups and
\nindividuals are also subject to international law, with NGOs also
\nplaying an important role.<\/p>\n
This brings a new challenge to Indonesian foreign policy
\nconcerning the rights of others to intervene in domestic affairs,
\nan issue that has not been comprehensively defined in
\ninternational law. As for human rights, the democratization
\nprocess and the rights of minorities, pressures will mount.<\/p>\n
A society as pluralistic as Indonesia faces a tremendous task
\nin maintaining national unity, while at the same time having to
\ncare for human and minority rights. Eventually, good governance
\nand a civil society will be the right answer.<\/p>\n
The second challenge is how to balance and relate Indonesia's
\nnational, sub-regional (ASEAN), regional (Asia-Pacific) and
\nglobal interests in the future. National interests may be
\ncongruent with regional or global ones, but they may also be in
\nconflict.<\/p>\n
In the future, should Indonesia follow its national interests
\nand policies or subordinate them to a common sub-regional (ASEAN)
\nmechanism?<\/p>\n
These questions will become more legitimate if and when ASEAN-
\n10 becomes a stronger sub-regional institution with a certain
\n'confederation' type of intensity. Making decisions in APEC is
\nalready becoming a problem as the question is whether to do so
\nindividually or together through ASEAN.<\/p>\n
One obvious benefit of going through ASEAN is to make the
\nposition a lot stronger. Hence, educating and giving the right
\ninformation to the Indonesian public is of paramount importance.<\/p>\n
The government and socio-political leaders will have to
\nexplain why sometimes Indonesia's national interests in the
\nlonger term will be better served through ASEAN than through
\nindividual efforts.<\/p>\n
A possible way to overcome this dichotomy is for Indonesia to
\nexert greater leadership in ASEAN since it has become one of the
\ncornerstones of its foreign policy.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has gained trust from its immediate neighbors and
\nindeed many of its diplomatic objectives can be better achieved.<\/p>\n
The third challenge is how Indonesia plays a role in the
\ncreation of a regional order in the Asia-Pacific, the strategic
\nenvironment for Indonesia. The region is at a critical juncture
\nand must either create a cooperative region without hegemony of
\nany great power or face an era of conflict and confrontation
\ndriven by the hegemonic ambition of a great power in the region.<\/p>\n
Here the APEC-PECC and ARF-CSCAP cooperations, which represent
\ngovernment\/NGOs or first and second track joint-efforts, can
\nserve as building blocs to achieve an ideal regional order in the
\nAsia-Pacific.<\/p>\n
The fourth challenge is how to help create an international
\norder which is more democratic and paired with social justice as
\nstated in the Preamble of the 1945 Constitution.<\/p>\n
Here Indonesia's role in such international forums as the IOC,
\nNAM and the UN is vital and should be augmented in the years to
\ncome.<\/p>\n
The fifth challenge is for Indonesia to lay down all the
\nnecessary bases at the national level to be able to achieve these
\ndiplomatic objectives.<\/p>\n
The following steps must be taken: Indonesia must prepare the
\nIndonesian public for the emerging challenges to gain their
\nsupport; \"total diplomacy\" must be established to allow leaders
\nfrom all walks of life to contribute; the bureaucracy must become
\nwell versed in the political, economic and cultural aspects of
\nour diplomacy; well-rounded national development must be
\nformulated to balance robust economic growth with the creation of
\na good governance and civil society.<\/p>\n
These measures will ensure greater acceptance of Indonesia's
\nrole in the region and the world at large. The challenges facing
\nIndonesian diplomacy are not easy or simple. However, we overcame
\nthem during the revolution and in the process of nation building,
\nso it should not be impossible to do it again in the future.<\/p>\n
The writer is chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Centre
\nfor Strategic and International Studies.<\/p>",
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