How do national, regional resilience link?
How do national, regional resilience link?
JAKARTA (JP): Is national resilience and regional resilience
mutually exclusive or mutually interdependent?
This question was raised yesterday in a discussion jointly
sponsored by the Lembaga Pengkajian Strategis Indonesia, a
private center for strategic studies founded by former minister
Rudini, and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.
Former governor of the National Defense Institute Soebijakto
said Indonesia has always opposed the setting up of a defense
pact with other countries.
This fact will somehow hamper efforts to turn the Asian
Regional Forum into an institutional body, he said referring to
the forum which was founded in Singapore in July this year.
"The result is that it will become a forum where participants
just talk about security issues, said Soebijakto, who is the
Lembaga chief executive. "This is deemed ineffective in resolving
conflicts."
Dr. Bernhard Dahm, a German professor from Passau University,
reinforced Soebijakto's view, saying that national resilience and
regional resilience is mutually exclusive.
Dr. Dahm who has made an in-depth study on national identity
in Southeast Asia said the basic element of national resilience
is found in culture and that national resilience is indeed strong
in the region.
Citing Vietnam as an example, Dahm said the country would
never be willing to compromise on questions affecting their
national sovereignty.
National resilience, he said, will not automatically lead to
regional resilience.
"Because of national specifics, national resilience will
support efforts at regional resilience only if this lies in a
country's own national interest," Dahm said.
The same applies even to Europe, he said, which has a more
homogeneous culture. In former Yugoslavia, national interests are
blocking the chances of regional cooperation, he said.
"If we have an amazing record of successful cooperation in
Southeast Asia in the past 25 years it is not because of the
strength of national resilience but in spite of it," Dahm said.
Indonesia is particularly averse to any notion of forming a
defense pact with its Southeast Asian neighbors. Instead, Jakarta
has been promoting the concept of regional resilience through the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations, stressing that this will
be achieved if each member country strives to promote national
resilience.
Speakers in another session of the discussion held at Aryaduta
Hotel were Priasmoro of Lembaga and Dr. Kai M. Schellhorn of
Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.
Peace
Soebijakto said that efforts toward the creation of a state of
mind which is devoid of suspicion and distrust is the best
guarantee for peace in Southeast Asia.
"The Asian Regional Forum is still needed as a communication
and discussion point but the best guarantee to a sustained peace
in the region is the exercise of confidence building measures and
this means the building up of a state of mind which is devoid of
suspicion and distrust," he said.
Dahm proposed a set of suggestions for confidence building
measures including the holding of more dialog, the providence of
early warning systems in the case of military exercises,
invitations to military representatives from neighboring
countries in events and cooperation among Asian countries on
common issues in education, environmental, social and health.
"This is one possibility in reducing fear and suspicion in the
region," Dahm said.
Both speakers and participants in the discussion, however,
agreed that disposing oneself from long-held beliefs is not easy.
Dr. Soedjati Djiwandono, a noted political observer, said the
challenge is tantamount to having a profound change of thinking.
"There is a need to develop a totally new line of thinking. We
need to liberate ourselves from conventional concepts. It might
be easier for us to find new terms but not to dispose of old
feelings. The Cold War mentality is still with us," he said.
Citing an example he said that whatever China does will always
be scary to its neighbors as the country looms large in their
minds and is coupled with an awareness of China's traditional
geopolitical perception of Asia.
Soedjati suggested a "non-offensive defense" strategy to solve
this problem.
"But, again, this will depend on the perception of neighboring
countries," he said. (hbk)