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The Bandung spirit and Palestine’s cause: Fulfilling the dreams of founding fathers
The United Nations has yet to fulfill its main obligation of maintaining international peace and security and promoting the well-being of the peoples of the world.
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Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi (center) delivers a speech during a meeting on the situation in Gaza Strip on the sidelines of a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at the United Nations Offices in Geneva, on Dec. 12, 2023. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP) (AFP/Fabrice Coffrini)
As the cold weather begins to envelop the countries in the Northern Hemisphere, a different temperature is brewing in the Middle East, spurred by the escalation of war in Gaza.
The spiraling effect of that war can also be felt in the economic sector, with a spike in the cost of shipping goods from Asia to Europe, along with an increase in insurance prices. Furthermore, it has a potential risk for economic activities in the Middle East region, presenting a dimmer global economic outlook in 2024, especially because the Middle East contributes more than 30 percent of global oil production.
With geopolitical attention now pivoting more to developments in the Middle East, there is a prospect for a shift in international attention from the potential flashpoints in other parts of the world, such as territorial overlapping claims in the South China Sea.
Similarly, the international community’s focus on global agendas, such as on climate issues and clean energy transition may well be distracted too, due to growing demand for more affordable energy, including coal.
This situation has raised concerns within Indonesia’s diplomatic establishment and surely among other like-minded countries that have made diplomatic investments in 2023 to generate the values of optimism, trust and international collaboration. Indonesia for its part promoted these values wholeheartedly when chairing the Group of 20 in 2022 and ASEAN in 2023.
As the chair, Indonesia must also bridge a wide range of interests between developed and developing countries which are often incompatible.
Many pundits commended Indonesia in its chairmanships, particularly in the way President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi disentangled the G20 and ASEAN from major power rivalries and the embroilment of geopolitical competition.
