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