New planetism and Indonesia

New planetism and Indonesia

So much of what Indonesia is today grew from the mind of the
first president, Sukarno and in particular the role of Indonesia
as a leading light of the non-aligned nations of the world.
In the new era of freedom that was proclaimed in 1945, the
Indonesian people had a direction for independent thinking
clearly laid out.

In the famous Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung, West Java, in
1955, president Sukarno and many of the world's leaders forged
ties and understandings of how the second half of the twentieth
century would pan out, with such great minds as Chou En Lai and
Nehru playing their part in one of the world's great comings
together of global human aspirations.

Yet a decade on from the ending of the Cold War, many nations
are now seeking a new perspective on how they fit into a new
concept of global order, a kind of planetism. Many countries at
this time are trying to balance national and global independence
with a new perspective of how issues that relate to the entire
planet can best sit within the concept of nation-statehood.

Beyond the nation-state is planetism, and many in Indonesia
have been practicing the concept, if not from 1945, then
certainly after the conference in Bandung.

Within the wider view of planetism, Indonesia can continue to
grow as a thriving, world class center for manufacturing quality
goods for all the world's markets. There is a strong argument for
attracting more of the world's best companies to invest in
Indonesia as a way of lowering poverty and providing productive
employment for more of the citizens, with mass production of
excellent products for the world's consumers as the reward for
investment.

President Sukarno's anti-colonial, anti-imperial stance in the
world he inhabited stands as great heritage for the Indonesian
people, as well as a great legacy of the man. It could well be
time now for the great Republic to look beyond past concepts of
non-alignment, to a new concept of alignment this new 21st
century appears to be defining. It is the great and good
achievements of the Indonesia people that will assure them a
place in the new planetary society.

Now is the time to look ahead to 2045 and the 100th
anniversary of Indonesian independence.

GREG WARNER, Jakarta