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