New concepts needed for regional security
New concepts needed for regional security
JAKARTA (JP): The emergence of new economic powers in Asia and
the Pacific and the growth the region has enjoyed over the past
years have generated not only good cooperation but have also
created tensions in international relations, a seminar heard
yesterday.
Indonesian and Australian political scientists and observers
agreed that there need to be new concepts of security to ensure
political and economic cooperation in the region, which
represents nearly two-thirds of the world's population.
"Security is not only a question of military forces but also a
political and economic issue," Russel Trood, director of the
Australia-based Centre for the Study of Australia-Asia Relations,
told participants of a seminar titled "Potential Linkages between
Economic and Regional Security Fora".
The two-day seminar, jointly organized by the Centre for
Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the Australian
Defence Studies Centre, was opened yesterday and attended by
scores of government officials and political researchers from the
two countries.
Noting that many threats to domestic stability stem from
disruptions to established patterns of economic activity which
produce social dislocations, Trood said that "the working of one
market may pose threats and create instability" to others.
To overcome the problems he proposed, among other things, that
countries in the region adopt the concept of "cooperative and
comprehensive security" which imply "a more cautious and gradual
approach to the development of new security structures".
Soedjati Djiwandono, a member of CSIS' board of directors,
said, however, that there was nothing new in the proposed concept
and that it had been adopted by Indonesia years ago, albeit not
by that name.
Indonesia and other members of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations have preferred to use the term "national and
regional resilience" rather than "comprehensive security",
Soedjati said.
But other speakers at yesterday's meeting agreed that there is
a need for the countries in the Asia-Pacific to adopt new
strategies and concepts to cope with global changes and
challenges.
Speakers from Australia stressed the need for the United
States to remain engaged as a stabilizing force and the inclusion
of China in ensuring wider security and prosperity in the region.
Model
Rear Admiral Sunardi from the Indonesian Ministry of Defense
said that, if only the security cooperation established in ASEAN
could be accepted as a model by the 18 members of the Asia
Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, there would be no
suspicion from outside the region as the forum proceeds with its
undertakings.
"Such regional security would not create suspicion from
outside the region because it will not pose as enemy of any
kind," Sunardi added.
ASEAN is a regional economic and political grouping whose
members are Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Two years ago, ASEAN set up a forum for security cooperation,
called the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), to discuss security issues
with the United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Australia,
and New Zealand.
APEC includes all but one member of ASEAN.
Jusuf Wanandi, the chairman of CSIS supervisory board, said
that APEC should move only on the economic front and not involve
itself in security issues. Instead, he suggested the need for
greater participation of non-governmental organizations as "an
informal networking" for creating better regional relations and
cooperation. (ego)
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