Invisible Indonesia thrusts into the world<\/p>\n
By Claudia Kalb<\/p>\n
The following is the second of two articles based on a report
\nabout a conference on Indonesia held in New York from March 13 to
\nMarch 15.<\/p>\n
NEW YORK (JP): In reference to the tension between developing
\nand industrialized countries, Don Emerson, professor at the
\nUniversity of Wisconsin in Madison, asked a panel of speakers if
\nthe West was witnessing the \"Asianization of Asia\" economically
\nand politically.<\/p>\n
He cited the failure of U.S. trade talks with Japan and State
\nSecretary Warren Christopher's failed trip to Beijing as the
\nbasis for his line of questioning.<\/p>\n
Emerson's question came on the heels of an article published
\nin The Wall Street Journal on April 13, citing Asian impatience
\nwith the West. \"A new Asia is ascendant: increasingly prosperous,
\nmore self-confident and often resentful of what it perceives as a
\npreachy patronizing West,\" the Journal reported.<\/p>\n
Dewi Fortuna Anwar, a researcher at the Indonesian Institute
\nof Sciences disagreed, saying that Indonesia's attitude toward
\nthe United States had become more moderate since the end of the
\nCold War.<\/p>\n
\"We're not embarrassed to say that the United States does
\nserve some purpose,\" Anwar said. \"Now, the discourse between Asia
\nand the West is on a more equal footing. There's less and less
\ndefensiveness on the part of Asia and less and less arrogance on
\nthe part of the West.\"<\/p>\n
But despite Anwar's comments, the touchy issue of democracy
\nprovoked Indonesian speakers in particular to ask for a more
\nthorough appreciation of what Emil Salim of the Center of Policy
\nand Implementation Studies, called the \"disunited factors\" that
\nexist in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Citing the breakup of the Soviet and Yugoslavia, Salim warned
\nthat Indonesia's move toward a more open democracy had to be
\ntempered by the delicate balance of ethnic and religious
\ndifferences. \"Everybody speaks about democracy,\" said Salim, \"but
\ndeveloping countries have no rights whatsoever in determining
\nwhere the world should go.<\/p>\n
\"Let the country move forward at a speed it can afford,\" he
\nsaid. \"Don't force change. Let change be decided by Indonesia.
\nDon't impose change. Don't tell us what to do. Be a friend.\"<\/p>\n
Marianne Haug of the World Bank noted the country's two
\n\"generic characteristics\", continuity and flexibility, as key
\nfactors in its success over the past 25 years -- sticking with
\nmacroeconomic stability and at the same time adjusting to changes
\nin the economic structure of the outside world.<\/p>\n
Haug then warned Indonesia that there was no time to waste in
\nmaintaining its competitive position within the region and the
\nworld.<\/p>\n
\"Countries that fail to keep pace are left behind,\" Haug said.<\/p>\n
She noted that whereas in the past countries had months, if
\nnot years to catch up to global economic developments, the
\nprocess is much more accelerated today. \"Reacting too slowly is
\noften sufficient to divert resources and attention elsewhere.\"
\nShe cited Vietnam, China and, increasingly Latin America, as
\nstrong competitors for Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Hadi Soesastro, executive director at the Center for Strategic
\nand International Studies, responded to Haug's concern by noting
\nthat because of Indonesia's successful economic reform, greater
\nsupport for deregulation exists. \"Liberalization doesn't sound
\nlike a dirty word any more in Indonesia,\" Soesastro said.<\/p>\n
But because of the monopolization of some industries, he
\nadded, \"It's going too slow.\"<\/p>\n
In discussing Indonesia's entry into the global marketplace,
\nthe U.S. Assistant Trade Representative for Asia and the Pacific,
\nRobert C. Cassidy, said the United States should attempt to
\nharmonize disparate trade standards, facilitate financing for
\ninfrastructure development and work toward defining the issue of
\nworkers rights in terms of both international norms and the
\nchallenges of a developing country.<\/p>\n
\"It's a challenge for both Indonesia and the United States,\"
\nCassidy said. In response to an Indonesian student's question,
\n\"How enthusiastic is the United States toward Indonesia?\" Cassidy
\nsaid, \"The fundamental view of the United States is that we are
\nnot well served if Indonesia's economy is not growing.\"<\/p>\n
But Imam Taufik of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and
\nIndustry warned that Indonesia suffers from an image problem in
\nthe United States.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesia is still considered a remote market with risk,\"
\nTaufik said. Before trade numbers can go up \"there must be an
\neffort to enhance Indonesia's image.\"<\/p>\n
Discussions on Indonesian politics covered the succession of
\npower after President Soeharto, the role of the Armed Forces and
\nthe role of Islam in Indonesia's political future, as well as
\nregional issues, such as Indonesia's role in ASEAN.<\/p>\n
William Liddle, professor at Ohio State University, defined
\nIndonesia's political system as a military authoritarian regime,
\nin which the rule of the day is \"arbitrary use of coercion\" and
\n\"arbitrary decision-making.\"<\/p>\n
But since 1987, Liddle said, the New order has been in a \"new
\nphase\" characterized by President Soeharto's reaching out to
\nconstituencies such as ICMI and the indigenous middle class,
\nwhile at the same time re-establishing control over ABRI.<\/p>\n
Liddle also voiced what seemed to be a lone view of Soeharto's
\nterm in office. \"On the basis of his actions, Soeharto intends to
\nstay. He's not likely to step down in 1998.\"<\/p>\n
Pointing to a burgeoning of non-governmental organizations
\n(NGOs) -- about 10,000 since 1985 -- Marzuki Darusman of the
\nIndonesian National Committee for Human Rights, said the
\n\"authoritarian prone government of Indonesia\" was being forced to
\nadjust to new players in the political arena.<\/p>\n
In so doing, Darusman said, Indonesia was laying the
\ngroundwork for democracy. \"There is more confidence that we are
\ntaking the future into our own hands. With the growth of NGOs and
\nincreased assertiveness of the society, Indonesia will have a
\nmuch more dynamic society and real democracy can here be
\nlaunched.\"<\/p>\n
Don Emmerson of the University of Wisconsin accepted
\nDarusman's positive prescription for democracy, but he cautioned
\nthat the regime in power could simply put on a \"facade of real
\npluralism.\"<\/p>\n
Emerson said that at worst increased activism could lead to
\n\"instability, rising unrest and clamping down.\" Emerson pointed
\nto what he called \"significant signs of ferment with political
\nimplications: \"labor unrest, student unrest, a more vocal
\nlegislature, more autonomous leadership of parties and other
\norganizations and an increase in press criticism.<\/p>\n
Within the political discussion, speakers also raised the
\nissue of what Professor Liddle called the \"growing Islamic
\nconsciousness\" in Indonesia. That consciousness, said Moslem
\nAbdurrahman of the University of Illinois has become apparent in
\nthe rise of what he called the Moslem Middle Class.<\/p>\n
\"With an increase in material well being there is an increase
\nin expectations of quality of life.\" As a result, Abdurrahman
\nsaid, the Moslem Middle Class has turned to religious symbols and
\nto prayer to combat an \"imbalance between values and material
\nsocial change.\"<\/p>\n
But whereas rituals and pilgrimages are flourishing, said
\nAbdurrahman, there has been a \"depoliticization of Islam.\"<\/p>\n
Mark Woodward of Arizona State University said Moslems were
\nbeginning to call for an end to the idea of the Islamic state
\nand in recent years had redefined the life of the Islamic
\ncommunity as an \"ethical and moral struggle rather than
\npolitical.\"<\/p>\n
Woodward said Islam in Indonesia had also sought to include
\nrather than exclude, and that tolerance would provide the basis
\nfor \"healing the divisions that marked Indonesian society in the
\nfirst 20 years of its history.\"<\/p>\n
But Woodward said Islam cannot be overlooked. \"It is
\nimpossible to formulate Indonesia's future without the role of
\nIslam. Modernity in Indonesia must be considered as more than
\ninfrastructure and microchips. Stability requires theological, as
\nwell as political, consensus.\"<\/p>\n
When the speakers were asked to assess Indonesia's political
\nfuture post-Soeharto in the context of the Armed Forces and
\nIslam, William Liddle seemed to answer for everyone when he said,
\n\"It's very difficult to predict.\"<\/p>",
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