Setting the foreign policy agenda

Setting the foreign policy agenda

JAKARTA (JP): Even crystal balls and tarot cards would have
trouble predicting the events of the coming year, but a number
of issues facing the country's foreign policy should remain
constant.

Human rights and East Timor will continue to be a thorn in the
side, and with Indonesia's step into the limelight as a member of
the UN Security Council (UNSC) these issues will continue to be used
to pierce Jakarta's credibility.

As Juwono Sudarsono, a professor of international relations at the
University of Indonesia, explained, human rights are an integral
part of a "conscience industry" for many in the West.

Dewi Fortuna Anwar from the Indonesian Science Institute (LIPI)
remarked that criticism on such issues is unavoidable if Indonesia
wishes to play a larger role in the international arena.

"It's a normal phenomenon," she said arguing that the more the
country opens itself up to the outside world the more both its good
and bad sides become visible.

Nana Sutresna, a senior diplomat and executive assistant of the
Non-Aligned Movement, acknowledged the continuing tendency by some
to exploit Indonesia's human rights record.

However he contended that the world is beginning to appreciate and
recognize the real facts of human rights conditions and the
improvements the government has made here.

Nana maintained that Indonesia's recent election to the Security
Council proved this point. He noted that Indonesia, with its alleged
abuses, was able to gain as many votes as Germany, a country with a
supposedly better human rights record.

Indonesia's permanent representative to the UN, Nugroho
Wisnumurti, also noted that East Timor is no longer a preoccupation
at the UN.

They have better things to do, he said, while adding that even UN
Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has signified the talks
between the Indonesian and Portuguese foreign ministers as the main
route to a solution.

Despite several meetings between the two foreign ministers, little
headway has been made in nearing a solution. At present it seems
unlikely that the talks will lay the issue to rest any time soon.

Even Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas has shown little
optimism over the next round of talks on Jan. 9, citing Lisbon's
reluctance to tackle the core issue of a permanent solution as the
cause.

In spite of this, Alatas remains consistent in maintaining these
talks as the single channel of finding a solution.

He further refutes suggestions that Indonesia's entry into the
UNSC will hasten an end to the East Timor question. "We didn't join
the Security Council as a way of resolving the East Timor issue."

In dealing with human rights and East Timor, Dewi Fortuna believes
that Indonesia must not be overly defensive in its response.

She urged better coordination and stressed the need for quick
access to information for Indonesian diplomats as the key to
countering and attending to those issues.

She also suggested that the government itself must show a
willingness to improve conditions here since those criticisms do
hold some grain of truth.

Indonesia's diplomatic skill will come under test when it takes a
seat at the UNSC on Jan. 1 because Jakarta will finally have the
necessary forum to execute much of its expressed rhetoric.

Jakarta's criticism of the handling of the Bosnian crisis, along
with its position against the embargo on Iraq and Cuba, which are
contrary to the West's views, will be put to the test.

Can Indonesia make a difference or will it acquiesce to the
pressure of this western dominated council?

Soedjati Djiwandono from the Centre for Strategic and
International Studies suggests that as long as the veto rights of
the major powers remain intact, Indonesia's presence as a non-
permanent member will remain in vain.

Head of the international relations department at the University
of Indonesia, Hero Kuntjoro-Jakti, though admitting the difficulty
of the task, expressed confidence when he said that Indonesia can be
the voice of NAM and the South in the council.

Much of the foreign ministry's energy was devoted to APEC in 1994,
and with the obligation to draw up a blueprint for the Bogor
Declaration next year, it remains to be seen whether the convictions
about the forum set out by Indonesia will remain as strong during
Japan's chairmanship.

As Nana Sutresna said, the past success in hammering out the Bogor
Declaration had more to do with the "messenger and not the message".

Dewi Fortuna said that there is no such thing as free trade in the
Indonesian economy.

Thus, how will Indonesia, with its monopolized economy, deal with
the economic realism of the Declaration? And, will Jakarta sustain
the vigor to push for free trade ideals now that it no longer
presides over the forum?

So far the government has been constant in its statements. In
response to emerging skepticism, President Soeharto just last week
reasserted his commitment to the ideals expounded in Bogor.

Suggestions that a senior official who chaired the APEC meetings
would be the country's next ambassador to Japan also hints that
Indonesia is committed to contributing to the next step at the APEC
Summit in Osaka next year.

Good or bad, 1995 is sure to be an eventful year, which could do
much to enlarge Indonesia's international stature, or which could
condemn it to the role of just another country expounding rhetoric
in Southeast Asia. (mds)