'RI should not over-react to foreign criticism'

'RI should not over-react to foreign criticism'

JAKARTA (JP): A senior military officer said yesterday that
Indonesia should not be overly sensitive to foreign criticism nor
hastily brand critics as enemies.

The commander of the Army Staff and Command College, Maj. Gen.
Arifin Tarigan, argued that criticism and negative comments
should be treated proportionally.

"While not all criticism thrown in Indonesia's way may be
true, we should still consider expressing a more proportional and
professional reaction based on legal ethics, as well as cultural
and universal norms," he said.

Tarigan spoke at the seminar, "Indonesia and International
Dynamics", sponsored by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences
(LIPI).

"Let's react proportionately. If there are some universal
(debates), let's accept them," he remarked.

In turn, Tarigan had some criticism for Indonesia's diplomatic
corps. Indonesian diplomats abroad, he said, are not doing
enough to assert Indonesia's position on various thorny
international issues.

Specifically, he called for Indonesian diplomats to take a
more active stance in countering the lobbying efforts of
international non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

"There's a lack of approach toward important world
organizations, including certain NGOs that continue to campaign
to box Indonesia into a corner," he said.

Tarigan said Indonesia's diplomatic response abroad to various
issues is often less than optimal.

Indonesia often fails to anticipate foreign intervention in
domestic affairs, he argued, because of inadequate analysis.

"This is caused by our limited ability to absorb information
and our weakness in diplomacy abroad," he said.

The most recent example of this problem occurred when
Indonesian envoys failed to anticipate the awarding of the Nobel
Peace prize to East Timorese separatist leader Jose Ramos Horta.
Without anticipating events such as this in advance, it is
difficult for a country to formulate policy or international
public relations strategies in advance.

Tarigan maintained that there is nothing wrong with the
country's conceptual approach. Rather, it is the implementation
that leaves much to be desired.

"Diplomatic activity is not intensive enough and there's a
lack of coordination with other aspects," he charged.

Communities of Indonesians living abroad, he said, are
valuable resources and should be mobilized to help defend
Indonesia's interests.

Indonesia's Ambassador-At-Large on Law of the Sea, Hasyim
Djalal responded that foreign policy and domestic developments
are inseparable.

Diplomats cannot keep on defending the country when there are
problems at home. "He (the diplomat) can't just go on defending
while there's problem at home. What else are you going to
defend?" remarked Hasyim, a former ambassador to Germany.

Diplomacy, and how it can defend or advance the country's
interests, is a perennial problem, he said.

According to Hasyim, the most important aspect of diplomacy is
coordination between the various governmental institutions in
Jakarta.

"You can defend and explain something when that something is
clear and understandable. When it's not, then you have to make it
up. If the make-up is good, then it looks good, but when it
starts to wear off, then it looks bad," Hasyim said of the
delicate situation often faced by envoys. (mds)