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.