Doing the job

Doing the job

Foreign Minister Ali Alatas' recent complaint (The Jakarta
Post, Aug. 22, 1995) about the perceived lack of assertiveness
and articulateness on the part of Indonesian diplomatic
representatives abroad is really nothing new. About 10 years ago,
then Foreign Minister Mochtar Kusumaatmaja also made similar
complaints about the lackluster performance of Indonesia's
overseas missions in promoting our national interests.

When I was an undergraduate and post-graduate student in
Australia in the 1950s, I noticed that most of the staff of the
Indonesian embassy and consulate in Canberra and Sydney had one
thing in common: they seemed to be diffident in their job and
tended to isolate themselves by mixing only among Indonesians.

In fact, during the many years that Indonesia was conducting a
campaign to regain West Irian from Dutch control, a campaign
strongly opposed by the Menzie's government, the Labor Party
opposition and the general public alike, I never saw any letter
or article in the local press or television talk by the
Indonesian embassy to counter the Australian opposition.

Such lack of professionalism among some of the Foreign Affairs
officials in the 1950s may be understandable as the country was
young and inexperienced, but the fact that similar mediocre
performance is still happening in the 1990s can't be excused.

In response to Foreign Minister Ali Alatas' open invitation,
the following are some of my thoughts on the directions
Indonesian foreign policy could take in the coming years and
decades:

* Indonesia should continue to play a leading role in ASEAN
and remain active in such organizations as AFTA, APEC and other
economic associations.

* Indonesia should give lower priority to the Non-aligned
Movement (NAM) in the future. In this post-Cold War era following
the collapse of the Soviet Union, NAM has become increasingly
irrelevant since its rationale of neutralism no longer applies.

* One aspect of international relations in which Indonesia
could play a worthy role is to resist the undue dominance of the
Western powers in the United Nations and the world in general.
The West has been controlling the decisions made in the Security
Council and arrogantly using both military power and economic
resources in its attempt to run the world in ways that will
perpetuate its predominance. Indonesia, together with other
like-minded countries, should endeavor to reduce such Western
hegemony.

* As the country with the largest Moslem population in the
world, Indonesia ought to play a more active role in the
Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) than it has done so far.
Since Indonesian foreign policy is based primarily on the
principle of justice, why is it that the Indonesian government
has shown only lukewarm sympathy to the oppressed but largely
Moslem peoples of Palestine, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Chechnya,
Mindanao and Kashmir? I suggest that a greater solidarity with
Moslem countries and peoples around the world should be made one
of the cornerstones of Indonesian foreign policy in the future.
Indonesia should show greater pride in its Islamic heritage
without jeopardizing the religious freedom already existing in
the country.

MASLI ARMAN

Jakarta