RI-Australian security pattern
RI-Australian security pattern
By Soedibyo
The following article is based on a paper presented at a seminar on regional security organized by the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Yogyakarta recently.
YOGYAKARTA (JP): For the first time, after 50 years of independence, Indonesia, a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement and following an independent and active foreign policy, has signed a security agreement with Australia, her southern neighbor, a country with a tradition of a western strategic outlook.
The agreement, which is too general in its formulation, invites many comments and interpretations. This paper seeks to examine the principle features of the agreement based on national doctrine. There are three major issues involved in the interpretation of the agreement. First, the question of what is meant by "security", not only how it should be defined, but more essentially what factors influenced it. Second, there is the question of how national security and regional security are related to each other. Third, Australia's position related to Indonesia's national security and regional security
"National Resilience" is an Indonesian national doctrine of survival and self-preservation, which is a guidance for development and for pursuing the "common objectives of states", which are:
* self-preservation, a state's desire for existence and preservation, believed to be the highest value;
* security, in a condition of interdependence, is defined as mutual acceptance of common values, which does not imply imposing one's value against another by coercive means, either militarily, or economically. Security experience by one state is not at the expense of that of others;
* ideology, provides a state with an identity. Ideology is fundamental in the concept of self-preservation of the state. It provides the nation-state with a strong base for domestic legitimacy. The state ideology and norms must manifest itself in the daily conduct of nationhood;
* wellbeing, based on the national ideology. becomes the next basic objective after self-preservation and security have been satisfied. Wellbeing is pursued through economic activities, and, because of its own dynamics, it forces states to interact with each other. Interaction provides a major behavioral force to harmonize with the regional political and economic system. Disparity in wellbeing, whether internal or external (regional), could become a source of instability;
* strength, as a state, neither depends on, nor correlate with power. Weak and strong powers habitually refer to the traditional distinction among states in respect to their military and their economic relative capabilities. The principal distinguishing feature of a state's strength is the low level of concern strong nations have with domestically-generated vulnerabilities to their own security, and are able to mobilized sufficient support to overcome domestic security threat.
National resilience covers all aspects of national life, among them: ideological, political, economic, sociocultural and defense-security. The absence of armed rebellion at the local level and of armed conflict among states does not in itself insure security. The unconventional sources of instability in the political, economic, social, humanitarian and ecological fields have become threats to security. Security can only be achieved by tackling the roots of human insecurity: poverty, environmental degradation, ethnic and religious strife, injustice and inequity at home and abroad.
National security transcend both national and sector borders. They are common concerns that can be alleviated only by joint actions and by elaboration of broad strategies. These concerns oblige the national leadership to make a realistic ordering of their national interests and priority, to select the appropriate conditions for their security, and to avoid the likelihood that they would waste their scarce resources. As a consequence, these leaders can identify threats to their security and asses them in a more realistic fashion.
Regional resilience basically means developing regional cohesiveness by strengthening political cooperation and solidarity on various fields of common endeavors. The multilateral effectiveness of ASEAN is greatly reinforced by the many bilateral links by the individual members. Links in the fields of economics, technological, environmental, sociocultural, educational and agricultural will have a strategic effects. But it is perhaps in the field of bilateral military links that the strategic effect is most pronounced, for bilateral military cooperation has the double effect of both building up regional confidence about national strategic intentions and, at the same time, building up cooperative procedures to handle military security problems should they arise.
Regional focus can be stressed without neglecting the relations with states in her proximity on bilateral, regional and global setting. When states are so situated that they impinge on each other's security and domestic development, it becomes imperative for them to interact with each other despite fundamental systemic differences. Indonesia's agreement with Australia, an extraregional power, should be understood that, in terms of security linkages, progress developed beyond the traditional geographic connotation and exclusiveness.
The security agreement provided the formal framework for establishing linkages for all aspects of security cooperation, which include:
* Economic cooperation through encouraging the expansion of trade, investment, finance and communications ties. Technical assistance as a means of helping to develop human resources.
* Cooperation in the utilization of resources and environmental security to make exploitation and production modes compatible with the requirements of a healthy environment, thus making development sustainable for all foreseeable future.
* Defense cooperation offers the prospects of a more secure strategic environment with higher confidence levels and lower investment levels for individual countries. The focus is on the development of "Maritime Surveillance and Safety" and "Airspace Surveillance and Control" capabilities. If military armaments and activities are the major threat to an otherwise stable condition, the promotion of "transparency", through intelligence exchanges, high-level official visits and joint exercises, can remove threat perceptions and foster trust and confidence.
Brig. Gen. (ret.) Soedibyo is a former lecturer at the National Resilience Institute and is now a researcher at the Indonesian Institute for Strategic Studies, Jakarta.