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ndonesia and the rest of Asia should brace for a new round of economic recessions should the US government default on its domestic and international payments, and possibly on its debts, in the coming weeks.

China and Japan, among the largest holders of US treasury bills, would likely feel the brunt of such an outcome. Indonesia, with considerably smaller holdings, may be less exposed, but since a large portion of its foreign exchange reserves are denominated in the US greenback, it won’t be spared from the impacts entirely.

No country will be shielded, given the US dominance in global trade and the role the dollar plays in international finance. The recession will be far more severe. A default would hurt the US credit rating and undermine global confidence in its currency.

To date, we have not heard Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo talking about contingency plans should this worse case scenario occur. One cannot be too confident and assume that the US Congress will agree to increase the federal government debt limit by the August 2 deadline, by which point the Obama administration will no longer have enough money to meet all of its financial obligations.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives is pushing the debate all the way to the haywire, refusing to agree on raising the debt ceiling beyond the current $14.3 trillion without commitment for commensurate spending cuts.

Fine, President Obama says, but he insists on increasing corporate taxes as part of the deal. The Republican Party is vehemently opposed to increasing taxes, implying that the cuts should be borne almost entirely by federal social programs, including Obama’s Medicare. With the 2012 elections around the corner, neither wants to blink first, but also neither wants to be blamed for the national and international economic catastrophe that defaulting will cause.

Indonesia should not wait idly and hope for the best. It is incumbent upon the government to prepare the country for another soft landing, much in the same way that it handled the 2008-2009 global recessions.

With the hindsight of experience, Indonesia should take the initiative and join hands with Asia’s economic giants such as China, India, Japan and South Korea to further decouple Asia from the US economy and currency.

With or without the debt deal in Washington, it is time Asia becomes more self-reliant. This will be a good time for us to move in that direction.