DATE=4/6/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=U-S AND INDONESIA
NUMBER=5-46089
BYLINE=ED WARNER
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: At a rally in Jakarta, Indonesia, some five
thousand Muslims have called for a jihad or holy war
against Christians in the Moluccan Islands. So far,
some two thousand people have died in religious
warfare, prompting fears of communal strife and
possible secession elsewhere in the far-flung
archipelago. In a recent policy paper, Washington's
private Cato Institute examines the separatist
pressures on Indonesia and the response of the United
States. V-O-A's Ed Warner talked to the author of the
report and another longtime observer of Indonesia.
TEXT: Can Indonesia go the way of Yugoslavia? It,
too, has divergent, often combative ethnic and
religious groups across its vast territory. Other
areas now talk of secession after East Timor voted for
independence last summer.
But in an analysis for the Cato Institute, Leon Hadar
argues that Indonesia is moving toward a more open
democracy and a kind of federalism that may keep it
from fragmenting. It even managed to hold its first
democratic parliamentary elections during a severe
economic crisis.
Indonesia has accomplished this with little help from
the outside, including the United States. That is the
way it should be, says Mr. Hadar. A low U-S profile
could avoid the bloody entanglement of a Yugoslavia.
Though urged by Australia and other countries to
intervene decisively in East Timor when it erupted in
violence last summer, the United States sent only four
hundred troops to serve in a noncombat support role.
/// HADAR ACT ///
Without our intervention, I think there has not
been any major pressure to secede and to move
toward a bloody civil war like the one in
Yugoslavia. In addition to that, we created
incentives for players in the region, including
some of the Southeast Asian countries, to
recognize that we are not going to be there all
the time to deal with their problems. We
localized, if you will, a regional conflict as
opposed to what we did in the former Yugoslavia,
where we internationalized a regional conflict.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Hadar concedes Indonesia could still fall apart if
regions like Aceh are not fairly treated. With its
rich oil and gas fields, Aceh contributes almost five
percent to Indonesia's gross domestic product, while
receiving little in return.
Resenting this exploitation, many Acehnese have called
for secession, leading to a harsh military crackdown.
So Acehnese are eagerly awaiting the trial of more
than twenty soldiers for committing atrocities in
their region.
William Liddle, professor of political science at Ohio
State University, says the independence movement in
Aceh has subsided in recent months, but he is less
sure than Mr. Hadar that Indonesia will hold together.
/// FIRST LIDDLE ACT ///
Indonesia has been through a lot in the last
couple of years, and we have seen more demands
for secession coming from more local level areas
than was the case before. So the possibility
that Indonesia could actually break up in
Yugoslav style or Soviet Union style is a larger
possibility than it seemed to me a year or so
ago.
/// END ACT ///
Working against a breakup, says Professor Liddle, is
the new Indonesian government under President
Abdurrahman Wahid. He believes it has legitimacy and
integrity, which go a long way to hold a country
together and keep the military under control.
Mr. Liddle agrees with Mr. Hadar that a prudent U-S
policy toward Indonesia is best for both countries:
/// LIDDLE ACT ///
As a general matter, we were right to adopt the
policy that we did in East Timor, which was to
try to help the process along as much as
possible but not to be too directly involved,
and to let Australia take the lead position. It
does, I think in the long run, make for better
relations between Indonesia and the United
States, and that is what is crucial.
/// END ACT ///
Why whip up anti-Americanism by over-reacting, says
Leon Hadar of the Cato Institute. Sometimes the United
States is appreciated for doing less, rather than
more. (Signed)
NEB/ew/gm
06-Apr-2000 16:42 PM EDT (06-Apr-2000 2042 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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