V

ice President Jusuf Kalla said on Tuesday that external military interventions to help solve problems in a particular country should be weighed carefully as quite often the remedy could be more harmful than the disease.

In his speech during the leaders'€™ meeting on countering the Islamic State (IS) movement and violent extremism on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Kalla said that the forcible removal of authoritarian rulers in a number of states had unfortunately often lead to a loss of political legitimacy and a power vacuum, which then could be exploited by extremist groups.

Newly elected leaders often fail to maintain stability as they do not enjoy widespread political support while weak government structures cannot function effectively, according to Kalla.

'€œWhile countries in transition need a lot of international assistance to foster democracy, imposing democracy through violent interventions can actually produce the opposite result,'€ he said.

'€œThe IS, which has taken violent extremism to an entirely new level of barbarism, first grew out of Iraq which has remained fragile as the after effects of foreign interventions aimed at bringing democracy into the areas,'€ he said.

More than 30,000 foreign recruits have poured into Syria and Iraq since 2011 from more than 100 countries to join IS, known also as ISIS or ISIL, the world'€™s biggest terrorist organization aiming to promote the creation of an Islamic caliphate.

During the leaders'€™ meeting, which was initiated by US President Barack Obama, world leaders firmly criticized the American strategy of promoting democratic changes in the Middle East.

'€œInstead of the triumph of democracy and progress, we got violence, poverty and social disaster,'€ Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

Radical ideologies, religions and violent political movements often take root in countries where civil and political liberties are restricted and there is limited space for expressing peaceful dissent.

Seeds of terrorism also find fertile ground when there is social injustice, marginalization, rampant poverty, long-term conflicts and a general sense of insecurity.

'€œA radical ideology often offers an alternative means of protection and leadership. Through the misuse of the jihad concept, such an ideology often sells the dream of a better life in Heaven as life on earth is so hopeless and bleak,'€ said Kalla.

According to Kalla, terrorism and violent extremism have mostly flourished in failed states, made worse by prolonged conflicts and military intervention, and as such the international community should contribute more funding to help these countries improve their social welfare and equity rather than investing more on military interventions.

'€œIt is, therefore, necessary to develop a more comprehensive strategy that addresses the problems of failed states, including how to promote moderation in ideology, religion and politics,'€ he said.

Kalla also shared Indonesia'€™s success in rooting out terrorism through the adoption of human rights values and the importance of economic recovery and growth.

Engagement with civil society is critical in supporting the efforts of the government to strengthen the voice of the moderates. This will also amplify counternarratives against terrorist ideology, according to Kalla.

'€œAs part of the program, we continue to promote the spirit of tolerance by empowering the moderates through dialogue and actively engage civil society, community and religious leaders, including the two largest Islamic organizations '€” Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, to provide counter-narratives to the terrorist ideology.'€

President Obama also acknowledged during the meeting that military actions had not been successful in eliminating the spread of terrorist ideologies and violence.

'€œThis means defeating their ideology.'€

'€œIdeologies are not defeated with guns. They are defeated by better ideas '€” a more attractive and compelling vision,'€ said Obama.