ASEAN based on national resilience

The following interview with Dr. Juwono Sudarsono, vice governor of the National Resilience Institute, was taken from the January 1997 edition of Telaah Strategic (Strategic Analysis), the institute's bimonthly publication.

Question: What is the significance of the ASEAN-10?

Answer: A united Southeast Asia encompassing all 10 states in Southeast Asia has been aspired to by many Southeast Asians since the late 1940s, with Filipinos and Indonesians being the most prominent. They visualized a common identity based on the region's strategic location, geographical makeup between two oceans and two continents as well as between the great traditions and civilizations of China and India. By August 1997, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos are expected to join as full members. This would fulfill the aspirations and the long-term goal declared at the inception of ASEAN in the Bangkok Declaration of Aug. 8, 1967, that the region of Southeast Asia become a community of peace and prosperity.

Q: Isn't the idea of a united Southeast Asia somewhat far- fetched and idealistic?

A: For centuries, the cultures and civilizations of Southeast Asia have been remarkable for their ability to absorb, adapt and improve upon a wide variety of cultural, political and economic influences from outside the region. Dynasties, kingdoms and -- more recently, republics -- sought to seek comparative as well as competitive advantages from the vagaries of strategic power plays, economic pressures as well as the political hegemony of India, China and the European powers. Following the end of the Pacific War in 1945, most of continental Southeast Asia came under the spell of communism while most of maritime Southeast Asia opted for tutelage under capitalism.

Indonesia initiated the notion of an independent, self- confident outlook when it insisted during ASEAN's inception in 1967 that the Bangkok Declaration affirmed that foreign military bases were "temporary in nature," although in deference to the other four founding states it conceded that the presence of such military bases was at the discretion of each resident state. At the height of the Cold War, the intellectual foundations of the outlook originated in a series of in-house discussions at the National Defense Institute (now renamed the National Resilience Institute) from 1969 to 1972.

The conceptual framework advocated is now popularly known as regional resilience. In essence, regional resilience is a logical extension of Indonesia's doctrine of national resilience, which drew inspiration from our revolutionary experience between 1945 and 1950. There is a strong emphasis on self-confidence and self- reliance rather than relying on foreign military assurance. I might add that regional resilience preceded the notions of comprehensive security and cooperative security, concepts developed in the United Nations after 1992. No, the ASEAN-10 is not far-fetched, nor idealistic. I am convinced that the ASEAN-10 is an idea whose time has come, is politically sound and economically viable.

Q: What are the benchmarks of regional resilience and the ASEAN-10?

A: The Bangkok Declaration, for one, asserts confidence in the ability of Southeast Asians to determine the terms and conditions of political, economic and strategic autonomy of the region. Indonesia pioneered the notion of not relying on assurances from outside military powers. In 1971, this idea was advanced in the declaration that Southeast Asia be a zone of peace, freedom and neutrality. Later, the Declaration of ASEAN Concord and the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in 1976 propelled this idea even further.

More recently, the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement and ASEAN Regional forum were added to the list. All of these benchmarks were underpinned by the notion of regional resilience. And so it went. Brunei joined ASEAN in 1984, Vietnam in 1995 and Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos will this year. All of these countries, I am sure, basically agree with the notions of national and regional resilience, uniting all of Southeast Asia within the ASEAN framework.

Q: What about the relationship between the ASEAN-10 and the international community, particularly in communications technology, production, investments and marketing?

A: In a globalized world, regional resilience combines the notion of comparative advantage based on geographical proximity and the idea of competitive advantage, which draws on the qualitative aspects of performance based on world-wide standards of enterprise. This is particularly important in the 1990s, because ASEAN increasingly faces competition from other emerging markets across the world like eastern Europe, North Africa, Latin America and greater China. Regional resilience through the ASEAN- 10 welcomes the challenges of cross-border and cross-functional transactions, which are the daily fare of executives in government and private business.

But regional resilience also entails down to earth notions of economic sustenance, social justice and the fundamentals of governance to provide outreach to the desperate, the deprived and the disadvantaged.

That is why Indonesia has compared notes with Myanmar and Vietnam in establishing international oil contracts, provided the Philippines with emergency fuel during energy shortages and assisted in building up Cambodia's army and police to provide public safety. On a broader level, Indonesia also supports the growth triangle of Singapore-Johore-Riau, the Indonesia-Malaysia- Thailand Growth Triangle and the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia- Philippines growth area. Regional resilience rests on the durability of national resilience. It is the daily referendum on the idea of being Southeast Asian.