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