Constructive intervention?

Constructive intervention?

Given our traditional respect for convention, it seems almost
like blasphemy to be even talking about the possibility of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) intervening in
Cambodia. Nonintervention in the domestic affairs of others,
after all, is a principle of international politics and diplomacy
which is honored not only by the nations of this region, but the
world over.

And yet, it is precisely this particular aspect, more than any
other, that has attracted the attention of outsiders in the
relationship between ASEAN and Cambodia in the wake of what has
happened in that country in the past few weeks. Most of us in
this region hesitate to call the ousting of Cambodia's First
Prime Minister Norodom Ranariddh by Second Prime Minister Hun
Sen, a coup d'etat. Here again, our traditional respect for the
sensitivities of others is apparent.

But the inescapable point is that, coup or no coup, Hun Sen's
move has in one single stroke replunged Cambodia into turmoil by
demolishing whatever progress had been achieved through much
painstaking effort by the United Nations and individual
countries, including Indonesia and other ASEAN members.

It took a good deal of time and tireless diplomatic effort on
the part of those countries concerned to persuade Cambodia's
warring factions to lay down their arms and sit down at the
negotiating table to work out a peace agreement that would end
two decades of bloody internal strife and enable the country to
mobilize its resources for the more charitable purpose of
development.

Little wonder that the latest turn of events has appalled the
world, particularly Cambodia's neighbors. Not only does all the
time, effort and money that has been spent seem to have been in
vain, the renewed turmoil in Cambodia threatens to upset the
region's stability and progress and spillover into neighboring
countries.

The concern which the world has shown over Cambodia in the
past decade was, after all, not merely born of compassion. In
today's increasingly interdependent world, no country can afford
to assume the role of an unconcerned spectator while war is
consuming another. The risks are all the more apparent when the
turmoil threatens one of the world's most dynamic regions:
Southeast Asia.

In light of all this, ASEAN's grave concern over the situation
in Cambodia is wholly understandable. Equally understandable is
its decision to defer the country's admission into the grouping
while keeping the door open pending a solution of the country's
problems. So, too, is its offer to mediate a solution.

But that, of course, is looking at the problem from our own
point of view. Others may disagree. Hun Sen, for one, is not too
happy with ASEAN's concern over his actions. He has warned ASEAN
in no uncertain words not to meddle, and to stay out of what he
considers to be Cambodia's internal affairs.

But is this intervention? Opinions may differ. ASEAN, after
all, has not actually interceded in the conflict between Hun Sen
and Ranariddh. But when one considers the fact that many people
in this region regard sanctions, or even vocal criticism of the
situation in Myanmar, as intervention, then it would be hard to
escape the impression that our own actions toward Cambodia can,
indeed, be regarded as a form of intervention.

In any case, the time may have come for this region to take
the bull by the horns and consider both the possibilities and the
implications of what the Malaysians call "constructive
intervention". In some cases a well-intentioned departure from
the time-honored principle of strict nonintervention may be
warranted.