New Indonesia-U.S. ties

New Indonesia-U.S. ties

Being a true democrat, President Abdurrahman Wahid must have
felt more at home talking with U.S. President Bill Clinton in
Washington on Friday than he did when he met with some of the
despots during his earlier Southeast Asian tour. Two people who
share and respect universal values always find it easier to
communicate than if their sets of values were different.

Abdurrahman's commitment to democracy is legendary. For all
his shortcomings and lack of administrative skills, his
consistency in fighting for democratic values is the one most
telling factor that brought him to the presidency. Now that he
has taken a personal interest in foreign policy, he is setting
the tone for Indonesia's new style of diplomacy, one that is
imbued with universal values he believes so strongly in.

There are bound to be differences between Abdurrahman and
Clinton, as there are bound to be problems between the two
countries. But the fact that they have a common set of values
allows for frank discussions about these differences and
problems. Their White House encounter may not resolve or bridge
these differences, but it has paved the way for more fruitful
meetings in the future.

The United States has always ranked at the top of Indonesia's
foreign policy. It is one of Indonesia's major trading partners
and a major source of private direct investment. Washington may
not rank highest among Indonesia's aid donor countries, but a lot
of the money channeled by the World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund originated from the United States. Indonesia also
cannot underestimate the fact that the United States is the sole
superpower and therefore is calling a lot of the shots at the
United Nations. It was the pressures brought on by Clinton that
forced Abdurrahman's predecessor, president B.J. Habibie, to let
the UN peacekeeping force into East Timor in September.

Any relations, to be fruitful, must be mutually beneficial and
based on mutual respect. Washington has always recognized the
importance of Indonesia to its strategic interests in Asia, and
the role Jakarta plays in regional diplomacy. Indonesia is the
world's fourth most populous nation; it is the world's largest
Muslim country; the archipelago strides across strategic sea
lanes; and the country possess a wealth of natural resources.

For all Abdurrahman's talks about putting Asia first in his
foreign policy, ties with Washington remain crucial. The
President knows this all too well as shown by his insistence to
meet Clinton, even if only briefly, during his current medical
trip to the United States. Clinton responded positively by
fitting the meeting into his schedule at short notice. This could
well mark the beginning of a new era in our bilateral relations.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Jakarta's staunch anti-
communist stance underpinned Washington's vital strategic
interests of supporting the regime of president Soeharto.
Indonesia's invasion of East Timor in 1975 could not have taken
place without the approval of Washington and Australia, which
feared that an independent East Timor could turn into a Cuba in
Jakarta's backyard. Washington turned a blind eye to all the
atrocities committed by the Soeharto regime, whether in Indonesia
or in East Timor, in the name of its strategic interests.

When the Cold War ended early this decade, however, those
geopolitical interests underpinning relations vanished and they
were replaced, as in Jakarta's relations with most other
countries, by economic and trade interests.

Humanitarian values, that is respect for democracy and human
rights, also began to assert themselves in post Cold War
international relations. Governments of the world are now
measured not solely by their economic competitiveness, but also
by how they observe these values. Because of the authoritarian
nature of the regime in Jakarta, relations with the United States
were cordial at best. They could never reach their true potential
because of Jakarta's constant abuse of human rights, in Indonesia
and East Timor.

All this is changing after the recent establishment of a more
democratically elected government in Indonesia, and the election
of President Abdurrahman who has an international reputation for
his fight for universal values and principles. The separation of
East Timor from Indonesia may be painful, but it has eliminated
the one single largest factor that has tarnished Indonesia's
human rights reputation. There are still other human rights
problems to resolve, but under Abdurrahman it will be just a
matter of time before the government gets around to them.

Abdurrahman's visit to the United States has not only marked
the beginning of a new period in Jakarta's relations with
Washington, but also turned a new page in its foreign policy.
With a lot of the excess baggage removed, Indonesia can pursue a
more active and independent foreign policy, as required by the
Constitution, with much more confidence than it has in the past.

Relations between Indonesia and the United States must indeed
be based on the principles of mutual benefits and mutual respect,
but from now they will also be built based upon shared values and
principles of human rights and democracy, not only by their
leaders, but also their people. This is the best way to build a
fruitful and stable relationship.