T

here was a time when the imbroglio engulfing the Middle East was only capable of mustering a humming of sympathy among us. Whenever we came across harrowing images or staggering statistics of casualties from the region we could only shake our heads incredulously and go about our daily lives. Now terror has rattled our capital in an attack for which the Islamic State (IS) movement eventually claimed responsibility.

Domestically, despite our success in thwarting numerous terror plots, we should still invigorate our law enforcement and counterterrorist operations. On the international level we should foster intelligence cooperation with our partners to identify potential individuals implicated in the IS network. Second is to suppress the financing of IS which, according to an estimate, has grown 90 times since 2009 thanks to oil and antiquities sales. Third, we should resist the wave of IS propaganda through social and mass media.    

Revamping counterterrorist operations is one thing, completely defeating IS is quite another. The perpetrators of the heinous attack were part of a menacing network of terror whose rise was spawned and propelled by the protracted turmoil in the Middle East. We cannot truly vanquish IS if the mayhem in the Middle East persists.

Unfortunately, just as we direly need stability in the region, a storm is brewing. The latest rift between Iran and Saudi Arabia could jeopardize efforts to promote peace in the Middle East. The two countries are regional powerhouses with paramount clout in the conflicts, including in Syria and Yemen. The row between the two would do nothing but derail the peace process.    

More and more countries have launched military assaults against IS. A political solution seems to be increasingly remote. Indonesia should continue to strive for peace in the Middle East. We have done our part, including by participating in the Geneva Conference to help the conflicting parties in Syria clinch a peace deal, and Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi also recently left for Riyadh and Tehran to help mend the fence between our two friends.

We can do more. For example, Indonesia could set up its involvement in the International Syria Support Group as the core platform dealing with the peace process which includes the US, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran. As external parties have different interests such as on who should rule Syria, Indonesia should stress that this divergence can and should be settled at the negotiating table, not on the battlefield. Indonesia might also intensify shuttle diplomacy to help Saudi Arabia and Iran bury the hatchet. Rapprochement between the two key countries would galvanize the peace process throughout the region.

We should also engage groups like Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, Indonesia'€™s largest Islamic organizations, to help spread tolerance and peace to civil society peers in the Middle East. As the world'€™s largest Muslim population and third largest democracy with a solid track record in peacemaking such as in the southern Philippines, Indonesia can definitely play a constructive role.

The Sarinah attack marked a new chapter in the Middle East saga. Peace in the Middle East would obliterate the illusion that taking up arms is the way to bring about change and would eventually dry up the support for extremists who wreak havoc throughout the globe, including in our homeland. Restoring peace to the Middle East and crushing IS are two sides of the same coin. That is why taking part to bring peace to the region is worth the sweat, not only for the sake of those in faraway lands but above all for our fellow citizens.
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Both writers work at the Foreign Ministry. The views expressed are their own