Unique functions of defense institutes

Unique functions of defense institutes

By Juwono Sudarsono

A unique workshop on the role of national defense institutes
was held at the National Resilience Institute on June 20 to June
21. Jointly sponsored by the institute and The Asia Foundation,
the workshop explored in general terms many issues pertaining to
security -- broadly defined -- in the Asia-Pacific region.

JAKARTA (JP): In his keynote address, Indonesia's Minister of
Defense and Security Edi Sudrajat outlined Indonesia's defense
posture which in essence rested on the twin doctrines of the
archipelagic outlook and national resilience. He emphasized that
both doctrines complemented the current vogue for "cooperative
engagement", one of the current buzzwords in the security studies
community throughout the region.

The June 20 to June 21 workshop at the institute broke no new
ground in terms of concepts. Nevertheless, since the participants
constituted civilian officials as well as uniformed active
officers, there were new perspectives gained. One of these was
the need for a more active participation of business and military
circles to be engaged in dialog with one another.

In their enthusiasm for enhancing economic and business
interaction within the Asia Pacific Economic Council and the
Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, for example, public and
private officials often take for granted the political and
security environment. Projections and projects were instituted
with scant regard for the medium and long-term prospects of the
changed security environment. Oil companies staking their claim
in disputed areas, for example, very seldom bother to consult
political or military leaders.

To a lesser extent, military officers in turn tend to discount
the changing economic and business environment. Their focus on
deployment, logistics, inter-operational ability and overall
force structure needs to be complemented with considerations of
the economic and political dimensions.

The ASEAN Regional Forum, launched in Bangkok last year, is
regarded as useful in providing the beginnings of region-wide
dialog. But only provided that it operates in ambiguity, waiting
for, rather than initiating, developments to unfold.

National defense institutes have distinct advantages in tying
in the three strands of Asia-Pacific-wide cooperation: political,
economic and security. In the post Cold War era, new concepts
incorporating these three strands must become important aspects
of security planning broadly defined.

A strong focus on the links between levels of economic
development with sensitive security issues would be a good start
for curriculum building at these institutes.

The case of China's future energy needs, for example, would
have to consider the fact that while it has 24 percent of the
world's population, China has access to only two percent of the
world's proven oil and gas reserves; those statistics only
explain Beijing's studied refusal in respect to involvement in
multilateral dialog over the Spratlys.

Understanding China's dilemmas is as important as being firm
to leaders in Beijing (given the recent spat with the United
States over the visit of the president of Chinese Taiwan to the
United States, China did not send its national defense university
representatives to the Jakarta meeting).

National defense institutes have an important function in
advocating the concept of defense and security in the wider
sense; territorial as well as functional. In Asia and the
Pacific, where interdependence is intense, the institutes would
do well to pioneer meetings involving businessmen, academics as
well as active military officers. War, it has been said, is too
important a matter to be left to the generals. Equally important,
peace and development are too important to be left to the
politicians and businessmen.

A follow up workshop, with a more specific agenda and ideally
co-sponsored by the business communities of the region, would be
an ideal way to work on the pioneering workshop recently held in
Jakarta.

Juwono Sudarsono is vice governor of the National Resilience
Institute, Jakarta.