Indonesia's position and the Spirit of Bandung

Indonesia's position and the Spirit of Bandung

M Alfan Alfian M
Jakarta

Next month Indonesia will host the Asia-Africa summit. Perhaps
this is the right time to see how the country is currently
striving to reinvent its own identity as a big and respectable
nation through, among other things, a process of democratization
and economic recovery.

Despite its prolonged economic crisis and abundant domestic
problems, Indonesia still has great potential to regain its
position in the international community. The following points are
elaborated from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

First, The country has a strategic geographical position, and
highly prospective natural and human resources. With its
increasingly more democratic socio-political system, Indonesia
can better position itself in the international arena.

Second, with its large population and demographic conditions,
Indonesia offers rich labor and market resources, which will be
particularly true after it has been able to successfully shake
off the current economic crisis.

Third, Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim-majority
nation and therefore possesses political leverage in the Islamic
world. At the same time it can serve as a bridge for a positive
dialog between the Islamic and Western worlds.

Fourth, the government's ability to curb social and economic
vulnerability will be conducive to Indonesia's favorable image as
a multicultural country and at the same time will strengthen the
political/leadership position of Indonesia in the international
arena.

And fifth, the ongoing process of democratization is expected
to support Indonesia's diplomatic efforts. As the judicial
process becomes more transparent, human rights are better
enforced and the press enjoys greater freedom, it is expected
that foreign partners will have more confidence in Indonesia.

Meanwhile, the basic foundation of Indonesia's foreign policy
is the five-point philosophy of Pancasila and the 1945
Constitution. The main principle is a free and active foreign
policy, and Indonesia will remain consistent to this amid the
dynamics of international politics. And, the ten-point Bandung
Principle (Dasasila Bandung), is an Indonesian foreign policy
norm.

The values contained in the ten-point principle of Bandung --
the outcome of the 1955 Afro-Asian Conference -- are still highly
relevant for actualization amid ever-changing international
conditions. In this context, we can say that the challenges that
the world is facing, particularly those that the Afro-Asian
nations are confronted with, are now laden with greater
complexity. However, in essence these challenges are not far
removed from those that these nations encountered in the past
(neo-imperialism and neo-colonialism, injustices, gaps and so
forth).

Indonesia will host the 50th commemoration of the Asian-
African Summit on April 22-24 in Jakarta and Bandung.

The summit will provide a good opportunity, first, to call on
Afro-Asian nations to formulate and identify their common
problems and draw up a concrete program of action to resolve
these problems.

Second, to revitalize the solidarity and the power of Afro-
Asian nations on the basis of the ten-point principle of Bandung.

As host, Indonesia can use the Spirit of Bandung momentum to
enhance its foreign policy strategies in the political and
security spheres.

First, together with Asian and African nations, Indonesia
continues to fight for the revitalization and restructuring of
the United Nations so that this world body will have greater
functions and authority free of the domination of certain
countries, given the fact that all member states are equal.

Second, to promote the protection of Indonesian citizens
abroad, particularly Indonesian migrant workers in various
countries (in particular, in Asian and Middle Eastern countries).

Third, to boost cooperation for the establishment of regional
and global security and peace, including the eradication of
international terrorism. With its position as the world's most
populous Muslim-majority nation, Indonesia has the potential to
serve as a dialog partner linking the Islamic and Western worlds.

In the economic and development arenas, there is also much
that Indonesia can do:

First, to be actively involved in international economic
organizations and make efforts to fight for the interests of
economically backward developing nations.

Second, to strive towards finding the best settlement for
heavily indebted nations so as to enable these countries to
reduce their debt burdens.

Third, to significantly promote economic cooperation through,
among other things, trading and investment activities among Asian
and African nations.

In the cultural and humanity areas, the countries also have
the opportunity to promote cooperation in the cultural arena and
in the development of science and technology in order to improve
the quality of life and to combat lethal diseases such as AIDS.

In this context, having solidarity alone is not enough. The
Asian and African nations need to formulate and identify their
common problems and draw up a concrete program of action to solve
these problems. Without that, the spirit of Bandung will be
little more than a nostalgic memory.

The writer is a lecturer in the International Relations
Department of the Social and Political Sciences School (FISIP-HI)
at the National University (Unas), Jakarta. He can be reached at
malfanalfianm@yahoo.com.