Questions arise about the future of NAM

Questions arise about the future of NAM

By Meidyatama Suryodiningrat

JAKARTA (JP): As Indonesia hands over the chairmanship of the
112 nation Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to Colombia this week,
questions arise about the past three-years and the commitment of
the new chairman towards the movement.

Indonesian experts have varied opinions on the effectiveness
of Indonesia's leadership, but share the view that Latin American
issues will gain prevalence.

Nur Imam Subono, a lecturer at the University of Indonesia's
School of Political and Social Sciences, said regional
cooperation is far more important than NAM for Latin American
countries.

In his assessment, Colombia will thus introduce programs which
are of particular concern to that region.

"For them, NAM is not a number one priority," said Imam, who
specializes in Latin American politics.

Likewise, Kusnanto Anggoro from the Centre for Strategic and
International Studies, believes more focus will now be poured
into issues concerning Latin America.

"Although Colombia has promised to continue the ideas and
steps taken by Indonesia, they will at the same time add a new
color," Kusnanto said. "I think regional affairs will likely
color Colombia's leadership."

The 11th NAM Summit will be held between Oct. 18 and 20 at
the seaside town of Cartagena, north of Bogota.

At least 52 heads of state or government, including President
Soeharto, have confirmed their attendance, with 86 of the 112-
member states expected to attend.

Among the new topics expected to surface during the Colombia's
tenure are drug trafficking, poverty, international terrorism and
human rights, the experts said.

Though these issues are of international concern, Kusnanto
notes that "many of these issues are of specific interest to
Latin America."

During a NAM Ministerial Meeting in Bandung, West Java,
earlier this year, Colombian Foreign Minister Rodrigo Pardo
Garcia-Pena asserted the need for NAM to work together in favor of the
poorest people in the developing world.

Pardo insisted that Colombia will continue the North-South
dialog which Indonesia has promoted, but stressed that before
this will be possible, South-South cooperation will have to be
strengthened first.

Kusnanto welcomes this step, saying that although NAM can
never replace the importance of economic and financial assistance
of the North, in the long run it is South-South cooperation which
should be enhanced and remain a central focus of the movement.

Kusnanto also predicts that as chair, Colombia will also focus
on the regional border disputes straining the South American
states, particularly the recent renewed flare-ups between Ecuador
and Bolivia.

The question is: Does Colombia, which is more known for its
coffee and drug cartels than its diplomatic exploits, have the
political will or capability to effectively pursue these goals?

Nur Imam Subono wonders why Colombia took the reigns of
leadership when traditionally NAM has not been a priority in the
country.

He argues that it is merely Latin America's turn to bear the
chairmanship, and the fate fell upon Colombia only after
Nicaragua, which was keen to preside over NAM, withdrew due to
domestic political constraints.

Hasnan Habib, NAM's ambassador to Latin America and the
Caribbean, has hinted that domestic problems, like rampant drug
trafficking, could pose difficulties for NAM's new chairman.

More importantly, he added, NAM needs strong committed leaders
to perpetuate the movement's new spirit evoked in the past three-
years.

Spirit

There is a wider range of assessments on Indonesia's
performance as chair of the movement.

Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said last
week that, "I think Indonesia in the past three-years as chairman
of NAM has tried to accomplish concrete results which profit its
members."

International affairs expert Dewi Fortuna Anwar, from the
Indonesian Institute of Sciences, agrees that Indonesia's
leadership was very successful and helped to reinvigorate the
movement.

She states that chairing NAM and the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation, and becoming a non-permanent member in the United
Nations Security Council are the peak of the Indonesia's foreign
policy.

Kusnanto Anggoro acknowledges Indonesia's success, but takes a
more pragmatic look. He says Indonesia has succeeded in elevating
the movement's image but has made few concrete results.

"I think Indonesia has been successful despite not having any
real results, because it is really only moral and symbolic," he
said.

Nur Imam Subono also points at the nominal outcomes of the
past three-years and maintains that what has been accomplished is
"just a symbolic resonance".

He contends NAM allowed Indonesia to shift from a low-profile
foreign policy to a higher-profile.

Among the features of Indonesia's tenure was forging South-
South cooperation in exchanging development experiences, and the
North-South dialog with special concern over the debt problem of
the developing world.

Meetings such as the Asia-Africa Forum were held, there were
scholarships for African farmers and students to study here. But
other than that, few significant breakthroughs were achieved.

As Kusnanto points out, "The NAM forum is an ineffective forum
of pressure. NAM is more of a moral force whose programs can only
be implemented by more practical means such as bilateral ties."

The political ineffectiveness of the movement was also evident
when it failed to come up with a common stance on the pending
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty earlier this year.

"NAM has too many members, so it cannot come to a common
decision," said Nur Imam Subono.

Kusnanto also agrees with the difficulty of reaching a
political decision in a movement which hosts so many interests
and contends that "NAM will never be an effective political
entity."

What is then to be made of the many costly declarations and
meetings that were held in the past three-years and will be held
in the future?

Kusnanto puts it bluntly: "I believe only NAM's spirit will be
imparted in the end."