Dennis Donahue: CHANGES IN INDONESIA'S MILITARY/APEC ROLE IN ENVIRONMENT/FELLOWSHIPS

Date: 05-17-2001

The East-West Wire is a news service provided by the East-West Center. To see other recent East-West Wire stories, check http://www.eastwestcenter.org/events-en.asp

For more information, contact Susan Kreifels at 808-944-7176 or eastwestwire@eastwestcenter.org

Included in this Wire report: 1. New East-West Center publications on the changing role of Indonesia's military and APEC's role in addressing Asia's environmental problems. 2. Application information for the Fall 2001 Jefferson Fellowship for journalists.


1. New East-West Center publications:

"Negotiating and Consolidating Democratic Civilian Control of the Indonesian Military," by Dewi Fortuna Anwar. (44 pages) Requests for the PDF file or for a free copy of the publication should be emailed to eastwestwire@eastwestcenter.org

The democratization process in Indonesia has begun in earnest and has led to the formation of a democratically elected government supported by a genuinely open and pluralistic political system. Nonetheless, it is generally acknowledged that consolidating democracy will be a slow and painful process. Of the many challenges faced by the new Indonesia, the most difficult will surely be the reformation of the military from a long-term social-political force into a truly professional defense force under democratic civilian control. In the midst of an ongoing economic crisis and rising social tensions, the task for the new civilian leaders is made all the more daunting by the rising expectations of Indonesia's huge and diverse population.

"The military currently faces many problems including low credibility, public humiliation, internal divisions, demoralization, and confusion about its proper role," Anwar writes. "It also knows that the domestic and international environments are hostile toward any military takeover. Thus it is unlikely that the Indonesian military will move against a democratically elected government.

"At the same time, there are new accusations of new forms of corruption, collusion, and nepotism (KKN), and these have greatly weakened President Abdurrahman Wahid. In such a situation there is a continuing danger that the military might again be dragged into politics, not necessarily by its own design but because various political parties and politicians are still trying to use the military to strengthen their respective positions."

Devi Fortuna Anwar is a research professor at the Center for Political and Regional Studies at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, and associate director for research at The Habibie Center. She can be reached at dewi@habibie.net or dfanwar@yahoo.com



"APEC and the Environment: Civil Society in an Age of Globalization," by Jack Barkenbus.(8 pages) PDF file can be downloaded at http://www.eastwestcenter.org/stored/pdfs/api051.pdf

The continuation of Asia’s economic development and improvement in living standards is dependent upon addressing its worsening environmental problems. While the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum is not ideally structured to deal with Asia’s urgent environmental problems, it can take an important step toward improving prospects for Asia’s environment by bringing civil society, specifically nongovernmental groups for the environment, into APEC deliberations.

"APEC has chosen not to take aggressive action on its looming environmental crisis," Barkenbus writes. "But even if APEC remains committed to talk as opposed to collective action, there is still plenty to talk about in a discussion that incorporates the views of the civil sector."

While none of the suggestions included by Barkenbus require any basic changes to APEC’s structure, they do call for tolerance, even encouragement, of a more open and collaborative APEC dialog. These changes are not only necessary for environmental improvement, but also for ensuring that liberalized trade and investment stay on course.

Jack Barkenbus is executive director of the Energy, Environment and Resources Center at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a former visiting fellow at the East-West Center. He can be reached at (865) 974-4251 or barkenbu@utk.edu

See http://www.eastwestcenter.org/res-rp-asearch.asp for other East-West Center publications.


2. Applications for the Fall 2001 Jefferson Fellowship for journalists are due July 9. The program runs Oct. 1-28. The theme is "Globalization: Political, Social and Cultural Effects."

In addition to the Honolulu program, the U.S. mainland tour tentatively includes Washington, D.C.; Houston; and San Francisco. The Asian tour tentatively includes Guangzhou/Hong Kong; New Delhi; and Bangkok.

For more information on the fall program, check http://www.geocities.com/rws840/AnncFall2001.htm

For application forms, check http://www.geocities.com/rws840/ApplFall2001.htm

Or contact Dennis Donahue at (808) 944-7192 or donahued@eastwestcenter.org

This is an East-West Wire, copyright East-West Center