How beautiful is youth! How bright it gleams. With its illusion, aspirations, dreams!

The 19th century American poet, Henry Longfellow, wrote the above poetry Morituri Salutamus in 1874. It is beautiful how Henry expressed his belief in young people with their optimistic thinking. He described youths as being beautiful people who dare to have big dreams and aspirations. In fact, it is more than that, just as history has taught us. As agents of social change, many youths fought for what they believed in.

The challenge of building the ASEAN Community in 2015 is one the young generations in the region, especially in Indonesia, are willing to take on.

Youth as ambassadors of belief

The modern world is moving so fast that it shapes and changes our future orientation, leading to a more individualistic one. Such an individualistic point of view has somewhat influenced the way countries in the world maintain their relationships. It is commonly believed that it is the job of the foreign affairs offices to maintain international relations.

However, recent trends show that it is no longer the case. It is simply because the need to keep good relations among countries is of high importance to all people. Consequently, all possible ways to improve any relationship must be done. One of them should be to get youths, as agents of change, more involved in the sustainability of international relations.

I know it will not be easy, but it is not impossible. The question as to how young people can get involved in supporting international relationships needs to be actively addressed. I am sure that once they are given a chance, they will do their best to prove themselves and make it happen.

Another thing worth considering is the role of society in preparing the present youth to become future leaders. The involvement of young people in society and in international relations will surely be a good investment for the future. Once again, it is a big mission, but not impossible. "We believe we can change" as US President Barack H. Obama once said during his speech. "How will we start carrying out the mission ... Please, trust us and we will become ambassadors of belief."

Youth and goodwill

As a part of global society, we often hear that we can work together. But facts show a different reality. The world has now been somewhat marginalized and it has been difficult to maintain present relationships due to the issues of terrorism, nuclear proliferation, and recently the flu pandemic - all of which are feared to make the current situation deteriorate further.

Therefore, it is the right time for youths to play their role as part of the solution. The young have relatively no conflicts of interest whatsoever. It is simply because they have goodwill and choice. I believe they have no political agendas either. The simple goodwill of youth is valuable in order to start involving young people in the world forum.

Hence, it is vital to believe that goodwill is one of the main aspects in international cooperation. Goodwill is mandatory to create a better society. Here is one example of how important goodwill can be. At the World Climate Conference in Bali, a lot of the important frameworks to anticipate and solve climate change were agreed on. Had no goodwill been present among the participants, no frameworks would have been achieved; the conference would just have been another conference without any effective result. It takes strong goodwill to make the commitment to save our planet. With goodwill from all parties, things can work just fine. In this case, young people can be the frontrunners in promoting such goodwill.

The idealism of youth

Indonesian youth should have a wide perspective. They must base their knowledge on the full consciousness that Indonesia is part of history and global society dynamism (Y.B. Mangunwijaya, 1999). I fully agree with Mangunwijaya's opinion. We have to maintain good relations with our neighboring countries. Some issues in other countries - to some extent - need our consideration. We should be active in participating in the international arena since we cannot simply live alone.

Young people must also possess a multidimensional perspective. Sartono Kartodirdjo says that perspective is good for the young, in order to understand that they cannot think of their own interests in absolute terms. Win-win solutions are necessary to solve common problems. Some aspects, like universal soul and multidimensional consciousness, are indeed important for young leaders in the future. By having such consciousness, they will be able to create a "more human" society. Thus, the idealism of an ASEAN Community in 2015 is reachable with the present involvement of youths as pioneers.

Thus, to build good international relations, three things are needed, i.e. belief, goodwill, and idealism. Belief is the result of incessant dialogue and mutual understanding and, along with the presence of goodwill, cooperation and understanding among countries are possible.

On the way to attain the ideal of an ASEAN Community in 2015, steps should be taken to build a better public life. The currently agreed programs among member countries must be seriously carried out to guarantee a better ASEAN Community in 2015. Once again, the role of the young, with their universal soul and multidimensional perspective, are condition sine qua non (a necessary prerequisite). After all, young people do have aspirations to be leaders in the future.

Wahyu Wirawan

History Studies Graduate

Gadjah Mada University

Yogyakarta

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