ASU - INDONESIAN INSTITUTIONS EXCHANGE PROGRAM ON
CONFLICT RESOLUTION
INDONESIA: BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE
Indonesia is the largest Moslem country and the fourth most
populous nation in the world, yet not many Americans understand much about
this important archipelago. This unitary republic is strategically located
in Southeast Asia, between Asia and Australia and between the Pacific and
Indian Ocean. With over 17,000 islands, the population consists of over 300
ethnic groups, each with its own local language and local tradition, struggling
for survival, maintenance and, in some cases, dominance. It has an estimated
population of over 220 million people and 87% are Moslems. Although the country
recognizes 5 main religions (Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism, Hinduism &
Buddhism), Islam has been the most influential in the political and social
life of the Indonesian people.
Due to its abundant human and natural resources, there are a great number
of foreign companies operating in Indonesia, including from the US. However,
the downfall of the military regime of President Soeharto in 1998 has resulted
in a reform era filled with great political, social, and economic instability
that has driven foreign companies, investors, and tourists away. This situation
can jeopardize the democratization process.
The diversity in religion, ethnicity, language and culture and the people's
ability to have a very tolerant attitude uniting such vast differences during
the New Order regime has been widely praised. The government claimed that
this situation could be attributed to the conviction of the national motto
Bhineka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity) and the national ideological foundation
called Pancasila (The Five Principles), consisting of: 1) belief in one Supreme
God, 2) a just and civilized humanity, 3) the unity of Indonesia, 4) democracy
led by the wisdom of deliberations among representatives, and 5) social justice
for all Indonesians. However, the New Order government had implemented repressive
and coercive approaches to contain any potentially serious conflict. These
approaches resulted in temporary settlements and only short-term resolutions.
This is evident in that the diversity has today become the source of many
conflicts that threaten nation integrity.
The multi-faceted conflicts in Indonesia have affected many aspects of the
people's lives. Politically, several parties are involved in frequent conflicts
and, recently, there have been internal conflicts among the major parties.
These conflicts have lead to violent clashes in some regions. Ethnically,
in addition to the problems and tension in the relationship between natives
and those of Chinese descent, there have been several clashes between migrants
and the local native inhabitants such as in Kalimantan (Borneo). There are
also a number of unconnected regional rebellions as well as provinces demanding
independence such as Aceh and West Papua (Irian Jaya).
Perhaps the most devastating and, in some cases, widespread conflicts are
religious, such as the hard-to-solve conflicts in Poso and Ambon that have
cost thousands of lives. The violence continues in spite of the 2002 Malino
peace accord. Religious followers can be easily provoked, as exemplified in
a number of violent riots in Java sparked by religious sermons. There are
some growing radical religious groups that, though may not be associated with
international terrorism, have worsened the already tense inter-religious relationship
in Indonesia. In this patriarchal society, religious leaders play very important
roles in preventing and ending inter-religious conflicts. As President Megawati
stated, these leaders and the people must truly accept pluralism and have
a tolerant attitude to prevent the country from disintegrating.
The government in Jakarta now faces a constant challenge to keep the country
united and stable, as Indonesia seems to be besieged by these multi-faceted
conflicts. During this tough transformation into a democratic nation, what
Indonesia urgently needs is alternative dispute resolution strategies. One
such alternative is mediation - creative but structured principles of effective
conflict resolution involving a neutral third party intervention to assist
the conflicting parties in the negotiation process in order to achieve an
acceptable solution in a peaceful and civil manner. Such strategy must emphasize
open, active and participative communication between the conflicting parties.
While the Indonesian traditional ways of resolving conflict such as musyawarah
(informal discussion to reach compromises) have been used with limited success,
more formal and structured conflict resolutions should be actively sought,
created and implemented to achieve long-term resolutions for the hard-to-solve
conflicts.
It is our mission to take the role of assisting Indonesian communities to
discover suitable, peaceful conflict resolution strategies. This project will
bring communication and mediation culture into the process of democratization
to eliminate the tendency of using coercion, intimidation, and violent acts
to resolve problems. This mission is in line with the goal of the US Embassy
in Indonesia of a more peaceful and harmonious culture in that country and
will help Secretary Powell's aim of focusing the world leaders on new ways
to resolve long standing disputes that cannot be solved by the army or a centralized
government.
This project will provide a great learning opportunity for the US and Indonesian
participants to understand the complexity of this Moslem society. We believe
that this opportunity will broaden our views of the multi-cultural and multi-religious
nation and of the use of communication and mediation as a cultural and religious
bridge. This project will definitely help the goal of strengthening the roles
of moderate religious groups in the development of Indonesia and stopping
the spread of religious fanatism that can lead to violent radicalism.