Indonesia and the world

Indonesia and the world

Bantarto Bandoro
Jakarta

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government is only
eights months old since its inception last October. The President
himself realizes that as a national leader he needs to
demonstrate to the public his ability to manage the country's
national and international problems.

Although Susilo in his inauguration speech as the country's
fifth president in October last year stated that he would
concentrate on domestic problems, he cannot avoid seeing
Indonesia as part of the international discourse, meaning that
what he initiates domestically will certainly have some impact on
the way the country conducts its international relations.

Thus it is important not to ignore the role of domestic
factors in the execution of our foreign relations. Susilo pledged
that he would continue to uphold the "free and active" principle
of foreign policy, and is committed to make the voice of
Indonesia increasingly heard internationally.

It is a fact that Indonesia is the world's fourth populous
country and perceived to be the most influential in the region of
Southeast Asia. It has more than 17,000 islands, spanning from
the east of Malaysia to the western portion of the island of
Papua New Guinea, and controls critical sea lanes thus making it
a strategic regional state of Southeast Asia. The international
community recognizes that Indonesia, under the leadership of
Susilo, needs to initiate more national and regional policies to
make the region safer and more stable.

The arrival of the Susilo government coincided with regional
efforts to build a zone of peace and stability through the idea
of the ASEAN Community. The government is witnessing that the
region is only halfway toward building a strong, stable and
integrated Asia Pacific community. It is thus important that the
current government provides full diplomatic support towards the
realization of such community.

Indonesia, however, should not see the world only from the
perspective of its immediate region. Its vision of the world
should go beyond its current status as the largest and most
powerful Southeast Asian country, although Southeast Asia should
continue to be the cornerstone of our foreign policy.

It is understandable therefore that Susilo has attended many
important international meetings, such as APEC in Santiago, the
ASEAN summit meeting in Laos, the ASEM meeting in Hanoi, in order
to make the voice of Indonesia heard internationally and to
announce its newness to the world.

In addition to his presence at these international forum,
Susilo has made important foreign visits to, among others, to
Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Timor Leste and
China. To the surprise of many, Susilo was also seen at the
funeral of Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, indicating the
government's policy in supporting Palestinian independence.

The just finished Asian-African Summit here also reflects the
importance of Indonesia as one of the vanguards of the Afro Asia
movement. The country is also seeking a seat on the UN Security
Council, a move that indicates its full support for UN reform.

This week there will also be meetings between our President
and the leaders of two major powers, the United States and Japan.
Jakarta is striving to reestablish good relations with
Washington, while recognizing the fact that the U.S. is an
important factor for the security and stability of the world. The
Jakarta government, however, supports global sentiment that
international issues be solved through multilateral frameworks.

If the Bush administration is able to reestablish ties with
Jakarta, it will result, among other things, in more U.S.
weaponry being sold to Indonesia, which can be used to patrol the
country's critical sea lanes, and the reestablishment of IMET
(International Military Education Training) programs. Indonesia's
international diplomacy has even dragged China into its global
policy framework by initiating a strategic partnership between
the two countries, which is good anyway, as long as China does
not consider Indonesia a junior partner.

So, here we see that foreign contacts, either through
multilateral forums or bilateral mechanisms, are politically and
strategically imperative if Indonesia is to be seen as proactive
in promoting and securing the country's national and
international interests.

Thus, on a more global level, the government will not only
witness the continual rise of market democracies due to the
globalization process, bringing with it hopes of prosperity, but
also new opportunities. But the government must realize that this
promising era is not risk-free. A host of modern threats, from
terrorism to people trafficking and arms smuggling, have also
gone global in that they ignore national borders and thus
undermine the well-being of our people and the country's
security. It is for this reason that Indonesia must commit itself
to be continually part of the collaborative efforts at combating
such threats.

Susilo must understand the nature of the changes that surround
us. He must acknowledge that in a rapidly changing and
interdependent world, the separation of national and
international affairs is becoming blurred if not problematic. A
more globalized world is bound to cause fragmentation on the one
hand and integration on the other, either on a national or an
international level.

The writer is editor of The Indonesian Quarterly, published by
the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He is
also a lecturer in the International Relations Post Graduate
Studies Program, School of Social and Political Science,
University of Indonesia, Jakarta. He can be contacted at
bandoro@csis.or.id.