Hillary Clinton is scheduled to visit Indonesia on Feb. 18-19 as part of her maiden overseas trip as US Secretary of State. Besides Indonesia, Clinton will visit Japan, South Korea and China on the week-long excursion. The Indonesian government claims her visit is attributable to Indonesia's new status as an emerging economy and analysts say the visit has something to do with US President Barack Obama's intention to boost his country's relationship with the Muslim world; others believe Obama's "emotional link" with the archipelago is the inspiring factor. University of Indonesia international relations observer Hariyadi Wiryawan talked with The Jakarta Post's Erwida Maulia about this issue on Saturday. The following is an except.
Question: The Indonesian government says Clinton's visit signals Indonesia's stronger position in the global economy in the eyes of the US. What do you think of this?
Answer: Such signals have actually been seen since Obama welcomed President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's wish to see a new chapter in the Indonesia-US relationship during their phone conversations when Yudhoyono made a stopover in Seattle after attending the APEC forum in Lima, Peru.
Yes, the economy will be an important issue, especially with the US' recent tendency towards becoming a more protectionist country. This means the US will firstly try to improve its economy before doing the same thing for developing countries. The new economic stimulus package in the US puts the emphasis on prioritizing the use of its domestic products and shows the country's evident efforts to free itself from dependence on the international economic network, which is likely detrimental to them. This stimulus policy will affect its trading activities with third-world countries, especially the ones like Indonesia, which rely much on the US market. So, yes, economy will be likely the main agenda.
What about Obama's intentions to improve the US relationship with the Muslim world?
Obama has been expecting Indonesia to play more important and productive role in bringing the US closer with Muslim countries for a long time. Indonesia has a unique position in the eyes of President Obama, who once lived for some time in the country and had probably delved deeply into the issue of US-Muslim relations.
Indonesia has that benefit *of Obama having spent part of his childhood in the country*. When Obama won we were very happy. I think Indonesia is among the countries celebrating his victory most joyfully, aside from Kenya. This should be translated into something practical. How can we bridge the cultural divide between Islam and the West; between the US and Muslim countries. Indonesia can be a starting point that should not be ignored.
If we fail to make use of these benefits, if we don't know how to do it, then this very strategic momentum will not just disappear but could be grabbed by Malaysia or other countries that don't have the emotional benefits with Obama.
Many religious leaders here, including those from the Nadhlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah *the country's two largest Muslim organizations* are considered moderate. They can play roles and redirect Indonesia's views on many international issues, including on Palestine, Afghanistan and conflicts in the southern Philippines and Thailand.
Within the Indonesian context, many Muslims here identify *former* President Bush's policies as the US' policies and are curious as to why the US cannot free itself from Israel's big interests. Now is the chance for the US, under Obama, to scrap the negative perception.
There are currently hot and intense talks on how Indonesia can reformulate its capacity as one of the players in the Middle East issue. It looks like Hillary will explore this possibility on her visit to Indonesia.
How do you think Indonesia can use the opportunity to advance its own national interests? What issues do you suggest Yudhoyono raise in his meeting with Clinton next week?
Our main interest is ensuring that US economic policy under the Obama administration will not be detrimental to us. The stimulus package is an effort to stir up their domestic economy; the US is loosing its free economic principles to protect the domestic market, Indonesia will surely feel the impacts.
The economic issue is very important to us. Indonesia can also bring the concerns of other third-world countries and offers some suggestions to the US. The economy should be the main topic.
Secondly, *they should discuss* what the US can offer Indonesia and what Indonesia can offer the US and where these different interests will meet. I really think this meeting will have a positive impact on the two nations and regional security.
So, do you think Indonesia can be hopeful about US-Indonesia relations given Obama's history with our country?
We will be indeed part of the focus of the US under the Obama administration because, as I've mentioned, he has an emotional bond with us. No military or political advisor in the US has business with Indonesia. They don't see a particular need for Indonesia to be approached. Most of them are still unhappy with Indonesia's partiality in the Middle East conflict; they consider us as being too biased to Palestine and unfair to Israel, which is their key concern in Middle East peace talks.
But as I see it Indonesia will make progress in this context, and this is thanks to Obama who is willing to give us a chance and is sending Clinton to Indonesia.
| 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|