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US aid cut will undermine Indonesia’s counterterrorism efforts
The termination of US aid for Indonesia's counterterrorism efforts could increase the likelihood of violent extremist organizations regrouping and former terrorists reengaging with their previous networks.
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Show of loyalty: A terror convict who has undergone a deradicalization program kisses the national flag after pledging allegiance to the state upon his release from prison in Kediri, East Java, on March 5, 2024.
(Antara/Prasetia Fauzani)
T
he reverberations of United States President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order on reevaluating and realigning US foreign aid are being felt worldwide, especially in countries like Indonesia that have been on the receiving end of US foreign assistance for decades.
One field that has been consistently supported through US foreign development assistance and which has received far less attention in the context of the funding pause is counterterrorism (CT) and preventing and countering violent extremism (PCVE).
The impact of the cessation of US assistance on this sector is difficult to measure. But there may well be what futurists like to call a “long tail”: Less obvious possibilities that might cumulatively negatively impact Indonesia’s security outcomes.
In the past decade, the two major US-funded foreign assistance programs supporting CT and PCVE in Indonesia have been the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) and the Harmoni project, funded by USAID.
The ICITAP focuses on capacity building in areas ranging from transnational crime, human trafficking and deterring corruption, to working with Indonesian law enforcement agencies. The ICITAP had a role in capacity building for CT, for example in training law enforcement agencies, including the National Police’s counterterrorism unit, Densus 88.
The ICITAP has now been forced to suspend all activities in Indonesia.
Meanwhile, the Harmoni project, which is completely funded by USAID to the tune of almost US$30 million in 2018-2024, aimed to strengthen community resilience and enhance the capacity of key institutions to counter violent extremism, in collaboration with the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), government institutions at both national and sub-national levels, civil society organizations and local communities.
