Quite revolution in Southeast Asia

The following is based on an address presented by Deputy Foreign Minister of Thailand Sukhumbhand Paribatra at the seminar on "The 1999 Indonesian Elections: Lessons Learnt and Challenges to Consolidate the Transition" organized by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance in Jakarta on July 27, 1999. This is the first of two articles.

JAKARTA: For long the area now known as Southeast Asia has been both a cradle and a crossroad of civilizations. Its history has always been shaped by developments and influences from both within and without the region and by the synergy of change created by the confluence of such developments and influences.

This is perhaps more evident now than ever before Southeast Asia is undergoing a quiet revolution. It is a revolution driven by the convergence of several dimensions of rapid and far- reaching change, global and indigenous, political and technological, social and economic.

In the first two decades of the new millennium one is likely to witness unprecedented social and economic transformations in all the societies in the region. Traditional arts, cultures and ways of life will not disappear, but more and more they will be challenged, overtaken or rendered irrelevant by new norms, values, belief and patterns of expectations generated by the process of globalization.

The state will not remain immune to change. It will continue to exist. It will continue to play its role as the traditional embodiment and guardian of the nations's identity and interest. But its sovereignty, freedom to act, capacity to protect and control its territorial domain, and ability to safeguard and promote its public's interest will be increasingly eroded by global and transnational developments and influences. The financial crises of 1997-1998 are but early and acute symptoms of this syndrome.

Midst this quiet revolution, there are numerous challenges, which the region will have to face over the next two decades, perhaps more.

The first is the challenge of global interdependence.

The process of globalization is relentless inexorable. It can bring both immense benefits and grave costs, as evident from the fluctuating fortunes of most Southeast Asian economies over the last decade. The region's security and wellbeing will depend upon the regional states' ability to maximize benefits and minimize costs arising from the forces of globalization.

The challenge is not how to deny or isolate oneself from this process. It can not be done. No one can remain forever immune from the global markets' influences. Rather, the challenge is how best to strengthen oneself, so as to be able to manage the process of globalization in ways that most suit one's interests.

More extensive and intensive regional cooperation in areas of trade, investment, finance, human resource development and social safety nets, especially in the framework of ASEAN, is necessary to strengthen oneself. So is the invigoration of certain traditional institutions and values, particularly those related to the community and the family. And a wide range of measures needs to be implemented to increase productivity and competitiveness through human resource, infra-structural and technological development.

But I believe that what ultimately makes the difference is good governance in both the public sector and the private sector. The existence of well-informed political and corporate leaderships, who are prepared to perform their duties in a transparent, accountable, and socially responsible manner, is no guarantee of success, for nothing in life can guarantee success. But it does provide better conditions and greater opportunities, firstly, for reviewing, questioning, modifying, changing or discarding inappropriate institutions, laws and policies and, secondly, for initiating, formulating and implementing new and more effective measures for the good of the public.

The second challenge is the challenge of regional interdependence.

The outbreak of financial and economic crises in 1997-1998 demonstrated growing interdependence in Southeast Asia. We are now discovering more and more that problems in one country can affect the security and wellbeing of the peoples of other countries. The dividing line between purely domestic issues on the one hand, and domestic issues with international, regional or transnational implications, on the other, is becoming increasingly difficult to discern. Apart from financial and economic issues, problems of the environment, drugs, diseases, poverty and unemployment, ethnic or religious conflicts, political and military developments of certain nature, come easily to mind.

Closer cooperation is imperative for members of this emerging Southeast Asian "regional village". ASEAN provides the best framework for the promotion of both multilateral and bilateral cooperation among the regional states to address many of these problems.

But a fundamental attitudinal change is also necessary.

A core principle, on which both ASEAN and the international system as we know it were founded and continue to operate, is non-interference in domestic affairs. Commitment to this principle is absolutely essential. Abandonment will create widespread disorder, and conflict and will in the end tear ASEAN asunder.

But at the same time this commitment can not and should not be absolute. It is necessary for ASEAN to expand the agenda of regional concern, consultation and cooperation to include issues which a few years ago would have been considered purely domestic and hence "untouchable" as far as other ASEAN members are concerned. Far from being a divisive factor, this attitudinal change can help the cause of ASEAN regionalism in the longer term. It can help provide an early-warning system to alert one another of the gravity of certain domestically generated trans- national or regional problems. It can also help present policy options to facilitate the pooling of minds and scarce resources to deal with such problem.

The challenge for the ASEAN countries is how both to respect this core principle of non-interference and to address effectively the fundamental realities, where the chains of cause and effect of certain problems stretch across sovereign and geographical divides.

The third challenge is the challenge of regional dissonance.

ASEAN is now ten. With Cambodia's membership, ASEAN has become a truly region-wide association, as had always been intended by the founding fathers, and its potential as a regional community has been considerably enhanced.

But the process of expansion also means greater diversity. There now exist greater differences than ever before, among the ASEAN members, in values, beliefs, historical experiences and memories, levels of development, and degrees of familiarity with and attachment to traditional ASEAN norms and practices. These differences can be centrifugal factors for regional cooperation and make it difficult for ASEAN to realize its full potential in the short term. They also serve to cause friction and conflict with many of ASEAN partners from outside the region.

All regional organizations experience difficulties in the process of expansion. ASEAN is not exception. But in ASEAN's case every effort must be made to ensure that greater diversity presents an obstacle only in the short term, that the saliency of regional dissonance diminishes over time, to be replaced by a growing convergence of norms, values, beliefs, and political and diplomatic practices.

The habit of consultation and collaboration among member governments can serve to reduce differences. But it is unlikely to be sufficient. Political will on the part of individual leaderships to make hard choices and bring about necessary domestic changes for the sake of regional cooperation is also necessary. So are enhanced interactions at the people-to-people level in all manners and forms. These, in turn, require more flexibility, openness, and open-mindedness on the part of all the region's societies than ever before.

Window: A core principle, on which both ASEAN and the international system as we know it were founded and continue to operate, is non-interference in domestic affairs.