U.S.-Indonesia Relations: Searching for Cooperation in the War Against Terrorism (Asia-Pacific Security Studies. Volume 2, Number 2, May 2003)

摘要

The Bali bombing has dramatically demonstrated that there is a terrorism problem to be confronted in Indonesia and wider Southeast Asia. But U.S.-Indonesia cooperation regarding terrorism is complicated by Indonesia's domestic politics and the hangover of past problems in the bilateral relationship. After September 11, 2001, Indonesia has had difficulty accepting the U.S. interpretation of terrorism. No consensus exists in Indonesia on how to tackle this problem, a situation made even more problematic by key members of the executive and legislature refusing to accept evidence of terrorist cells within Indonesia. Compounding difficulties in U.S.-Indonesia cooperation is a deep distrust of U.S. foreign policy within the Indonesian government, but also among the public at large. In Indonesia's more democratic era (since the departure of President Soeharto in 1998), the views of the public are now far more influential than before -- sometimes to the detriment of the U.S.- Indonesia relationship. Key members of the political elite who seek to improve their positions of power have used President Megawati Soekarnoputri's weak Islamic credentials to attack her, as well as to hold up full investigations into Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), known to be behind the Bali attacks. Leading members of Indonesia's most powerful institution, the military, have expressed conflicting opinions on the nature of the terrorist problem. As a consequence, Megawati has been constrained in supporting the United States in its war against terrorism. However, there is evidence that moderate political and religious forces, who represent the majority of Indonesians, have brought their influence to bear -- especially since the Bali blast -- to turn attitudes against the radical fringe that employs violence as a political objective. President Megawati and some of her key political allies have increasingly felt able to publicly criticize, and in some cases arrest, members of radicalized groups within Indonesia.