Ethnic nationalism challenges

Ethnic nationalism challenges

Ivy Susanti, Jakarta

Ethnic clashes within Southeast Asian countries have drawn the
attention of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
as a regional grouping to review and systematically address
effective ways to maintain peace and security within the ASEAN
community.

This is particularly significant as numerous incidents take
place in the domestic sphere, in which ethnic groups come into
conflict with one another. The conflicts may be ethnic or
religious in nature, secessionist movements or even terrorist
acts, and may cause instability in the region.

Leaders from 10 ASEAN member states will stage their annual
summit in Vientiane, Laos, from Nov. 29 to Nov. 30, where they
will ratify the ASEAN Security Community (ASC) Plan of Action,
ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Plan of Action and Vientiane
Action Program.

The ASEAN Security Community and the other two community
pillars -- Economic and Socio-Cultural Communities -- were
declared in the 2003 Summit in Bali, Indonesia. The Bali Concord
II document states that the ASC is aimed at creating and
maintaining peace with the member states, and the world.

The ASC, which was initially proposed by Indonesia, has so far
received a positive response, even from the West, but it seems
that the realist approach of the regional security community has
not touched the substantial, persistent problem of ethnic
nationalism.

This problem may obstruct the effectiveness of the security
community in achieving its objectives. With regards state
relations, this problem also questions the degree to which the
non-interference principle should be exercised as ASEAN heads
toward building one community.

The member states share many things in common -- which
prompted them to integrate into one community in the first place
-- including their historical background and colonial legacy.

Experts on Southeast Asia have argued that Southeast Asia,
from the earliest time, is an imagined community. Its colonial
masters demarcated the geography of Southeast Asia for their own
administrative and political purposes.

The territorial borders had separated people from the same
ethnic groups and had drawn together in a state those from
different ethnic groups.

The region is progressing toward a market-oriented economy,
bringing prosperity to some but poverty to others. This fact is
exacerbated by unequal development, which has widened the gap in
prosperity between the city center and its periphery, and between
ethnic groups, and caused resentment and prejudices.

These are, however, intertwined. The failure to acknowledge
either one would only partially solve the problems.

In solving the Aceh separatist movement, Indonesia addressed
the development issue, but has so far not succeeded in changing
the Acehnese perception of the Indonesian government. Most
Acehnese believe that most of the income from their industries
has gone out of the region, and to non-Acehnese migrants.

Aceh is an issue at ASEAN, because neighboring countries like
Malaysia and Singapore bear the brunt of the instability in this
strongly Islamic province, particularly the influx of refugees,
rebels and illegal arms trafficking.

The recent violence in southern Thailand shows the minority
ethnic Malay's unfavorable perception of the Thai government and
its policy toward the southern provinces bordering Malaysia. The
conflict between two ethnic groups and religion in these areas
are not something new, but has been in existence ever since
Thailand annexed the former Malay sultanates in the last century,
and no approach has so far proved effective.

In the case of Myanmar, ethnic groups are demanding
independent states because the old constitution granted them the
right to secession.

All of these specific cases, however, can be overshadowed by
other conflicts like political struggle in the government, or
even terrorism.

Regional cooperation to address ethnic nationalism is
nonetheless limited or perhaps very loosely structured. The most
cited reason is that the countries are bound by the non-
interference principle but there are of course underlying causes,
which are culturally-driven, such as distrust and face saving
issues.

Cooperation has taken place in the form of peace talks, like
in the case of Indonesia and Malaysia brokering talks between the
Philippine government and the Moro National Liberation Front.

Recently, Indonesia also initiated open and transparent
information sharing at the state level, done usually on an
informal occasion and often closed to the media and public.
Indonesia shared the Aceh situation in this way, and many ASEAN
countries are now wishing that Myanmar and Thailand would explain
their domestic turbulences in the same manner in Vientiane.

Within the context of the ASC, all member states should at
first agree on the fact that ethnic nationalism and its root
cause is a security problem, not only for individual governments,
but for regional stability as well, so as to maintain the same
level of understanding and confidence.

Other ideas -- even a "controversial" one to most Southeast
Asian leaders like a peacekeeping mission -- may emerge as an
option to quell separatism. But there are other issues that need
regional cooperation in non-security areas, such as in
formulating regional autonomy plans or economic cooperation with
specific provinces.

By making ethnic nationalism one of the major issues in
maintaining regional peace and security, ASEAN leaders will
demonstrate their concern for the common people and for problems
at the grassroots level.

The writer is a journalist for The Jakarta Post