CSIS launches books on Indonesian politics

JAKARTA (JP): The Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) launched two books yesterday, on Indonesia's confrontations in the early 1960's and the need to revitalize the country's political system.

Konfrontasi Revisited, Indonesian Foreign Policy Under Soekarno, written in English, is by political scientist J. Soedjati Djiwandono.

The 224-page book examines Indonesia's foreign policy in the 1960 to 1962 period with special reference to the relations between Jakarta and Moscow.

The book is a revised version of Soedjati's 1982 doctoral thesis written at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Sitting as commentators at yesterday's book launch were former Ambassador to Australia Sabam Siagian and political scientist Juwono Sudarsono.

Sabam said the book would add to the rather sparse catalog of books on Indonesian foreign policy. He suggested that Soedjati translate his work into Indonesian with added information on various theoretical aspects.

He praised Soedjati's work, saying the fact an old topic still made interesting reading "signified the intellectual quality of the book".

Juwono, in his commentary, said that the Konfrontasi era exemplified the nature and role of a charismatic national leader, like Sukarno, for a newly developing nation.

He criticized the book for neglecting to highlight the media and the "image war" aspect of the Konfrontasi, which Juwono said was a major part of the overall strategy.

The Revitalization of the Indonesian Political System, written in Indonesian, is a compilation of writings by young political scientists and edited by Soedjati and CSIS political researcher T.A. Legowo.

In his commentary, Muhammad Hikam, welcomed the ideas presented and said it was refreshing to see that young political scientists shared his vision of revitalizing the political system and recapturing the ideals laid down by the nation's founding fathers. (mds)