Indonesia can play a balancing role in Asia
Michael Vatikiotis International Herald Tribune Thursday, April 14, 2005 SINGAPORE Indonesia has proudly joined the ranks of the world's free societies, it's democratic transition no longer questioned. Now it is time for a country that can call itself the world's third largest democracy to contribute to the struggle for justice and freedom worldwide. . As the largest Muslim nation, with more than 230 million people, Indonesia is too important to be neglected in global forums, where it is categorized as a problem for the world rather than an asset - a developing economy with the attendant problems of corruption, poverty and a vociferous radical fringe. . And yet it has always been hard for Indonesia to push forward individuals to play a leading role on the world stage. Southeast Asia's early contribution to global diplomacy, U Thant, was Burmese. Indonesia's first president, Sukarno, U Thant's contemporary, preferred bombast to diplomacy and took his fledgling nation out of the United Nations in the 1960s. . Then came Suharto, a military leader who pulled Indonesia out of grinding poverty, promoted literacy and family planning, and later promoted agricultural self-sufficiency as well as market reforms that helped raise the standard of living of millions of ordinary Indonesians. This was an outstanding achievement worthy of global recognition, but Suharto's stubborn refusal to marry political freedom to the economic emancipation of his people tarred Indonesia's image in the eyes of the world. . Suharto's parlous human rights record obscured small but significant diplomatic triumphs like the Cambodian peace agreement in 1990, or its sober stewardship of the Nonaligned Movement in the 1990s. . Then there was East Timor. Some of Indonesia's most promising diplomats and officials squandered their integrity in the eyes of the world by defending the indefensible as this small but highly visible nation struggled for independence from 1975 to 2001. . But these are different times and Indonesian diplomats can now hold their heads high. An Indonesian has been appointed chairman of the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva. Indonesia can and should, as one of the world's youngest democracies, help those parts of the world where freedom is still a struggle. This means taking a more pro-active stance on issues like Myanmar and Palestine. . As the world's largest Islamic nation, Indonesia has a duty to contribute to the progressive development of global Muslim society. As a developing country with a long history of finding solutions to gargantuan economic challenges, Indonesia can contribute to the daunting challenge of eradicating poverty. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice could have recognized this potential by making Jakarta one of the stops she made on her maiden Asian trip in March. The fact that she did not indicates just how much ground Indonesia needs to recover in the eyes of the world. . To be sure, Indonesia's newly elected president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has had his hands full dealing with a pile of domestic crises - the tsunami, which killed almost a quarter of a million Indonesians and left almost half a million homeless; the ongoing hunt for terrorists; and a host of domestic political issues, including the ongoing battle against corruption. . Yudhoyono has an opportunity to promote Indonesia's role in the world at the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Asia-Africa summit meeting in the old Dutch hill resort town of Bandung. . "Sisters and brothers," Sukarno thundered from the podium as he proudly opened the summit meeting 50 years ago. "How terrifically dynamic is our time!" It was a time of nationalist struggle and newly won independence, but also the onset of the cold war. Nehru and Nasser rubbed shoulders with Sihanouk and Sukarno; Chou En-lai narrowly missed being killed on his way to the conference, which brought together the entire newly decolonized world. . That same raw political energy will be hard to regenerate in Bandung this April unless Indonesia bares its potential as a state that promotes freedom and self-determination. A more imaginative foreign policy, which throws off the burden of internal crisis and stakes out a role for this large but unmenacing nation, would go a long way toward redressing the balance of power in a region sandwiched between two of Asia's oldest expansionist powers, India and China. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> What would our lives be like without music, dance, and theater? 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