NAM must play more active role

NAM must play more active role

Indonesia is currently hosting the 40th anniversary commemoration of the Asia-Africa Conference as well as the Non- Alignment Movement's ministerial meeting. Noted political scientist Juwono Sudarsono takes a close look at these important events.

JAKARTA (JP): Delegates to the Ministerial Meeting of the Non- Aligned Movement's Coordinating Bureau assemble in Bandung this week to commemorate and reassert commitments proclaimed at the Asia Africa Conference forty years ago. These goals, enshrined in the Ten Bandung Principles and subsequently reappraised, rephrased and rehearsed in numerous meetings and conferences in Non-Aligned countries and in United Nations sessions over the past four decades, today carry an ominous ring : the developed countries of the North are too busy with their own troubles to care about the rest of the world.

The Non-Aligned Movement also faces a United Nations long afflicted by a crisis of legitimacy in the eyes of much of the developing world. The UN's numerous world summits (economic order, information order, disarmament, human rights, environment, population, women and human settlement) are often regarded as perfunctory measures to contain the periodic anger and frustration in much of the developing world.

Until the Tenth Summit in Jakarta in 1992, the Non-Aligned Movement tended to indulge itself in prolonged rhetoric and negotiated compromises in formulating political and economic declarations that may be the stuff of diplomacy but all too often provide little more than a cathartic moment for triumphant but exhausted diplomats eager to retire to their hotel rooms.

Because of the long-standing frustrations, the Jakarta summit sought to reorient the strategy of fulfilling the ideals of Bandung 1955 and of Belgrade 1961. Non-Aligned member-states must go beyond commemorating ideals and principles. The international system, however systematically unfair, can only be restructured through patient and determined hard work on the part of the developing nations.

Out of personal inclination and preferred strategy, President Soeharto emphasized the importance of getting the priorities right: political stability, economic growth and social equity. No developing nation can embark on the daunting task of moving forward towards peace and prosperity without achieving these three basics. Cultural and authority templates of nation and state must at once be firm and yet flexible if societies wish to survive the twists and turns of disruptive economic and social change. True non-alignment begins with strengthening state identity, alleviating absolute poverty and enhancing human security at home. These essentials speak louder than elegant diplomatic formulations.

That strategy was reflected in the Jakarta Message, affirming the need for the South to embark on a vigilant but realistic "partnership and cooperation" with the North, as well as enhancing cooperation within the South where practicable.

For the first time in the history of the Non-Aligned Movement, the chairman of the Movement underscored that it was imperative that the summit's commitments be followed through by four fundamentals: population control, food security, debt management and sustainable development. President Soeharto's appointment of a special executive assistant, seven senior economists and four ambassadors-at-large underscores his seriousness in providing substance to the Jakarta Message. The concept of a tripartite arrangement, whereby a G-7 country assists severely indebted low income countries through the participation of several of the more fortunate developing nations, was introduced in the meeting between G-7 leaders and President Soeharto in Tokyo in 1993.

Forty years ago, first generation leaders of Africa and Asia appealed for emancipation and humanitarian concern. In the present post-Cold War era, these ideals retain relevance and gain added urgency for much of Africa, Asia, Latin America and southern Europe. But even as sustained collective efforts are important, each developing nation must, above all, start by helping itself.

Now and in the future, second and third generation leaders of Non-Aligned countries must simultaneously come to grips with political order, economic growth, social equity, population control, food security, debt management and sustainable development . The collective performances in resolving these issues will be even more compelling for the credibility of each member-state and of the Non-Aligned Movement as a whole.

Sound statecraft consists of the combined applications of word-craft, trade-craft and military-craft. Beyond the solemn commemorations and discussions of the future strategies of the Non-Aligned Movement which emanates from Bandung 1995, the simple but blunt message that present leaders in Non-Aligned countries must take into full account must surely be: Reduce the wordcraft, control the military-craft, enhance the trade-craft.

Dr. Juwono Sudarsono is Vice Governor of Lemhanas, the Indonesian Defense College, Jakarta.