NOV 19 — There has been hardly any buzz from the Indonesian media and the public since Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his US counterpart Barack Obama pledged stronger bilateral ties between their countries on Sunday.
Both leaders had listed some areas in which bilateral cooperation would intensify — from clean energy, education and technology to counter-terrorism efforts.
They had an hour-long pow-wow after wrapping up the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) and Asean-US summits in Singapore, right before Obama boarded Air Force One for his next stop, Shanghai.
Truth be told, the disappointment at Obama's decision to bypass Indonesia on his jaunt to Asia — despite being 80 minutes away by plane from Singapore — still lingers.
Expectations were high that he would sketch in detail his administration's plan of renewed engagement with Indonesia while in the country itself. After all, he has a special connection with the country, having spent a few years of his childhood in Jakarta in the 1960s.
Obama's fan base stretches across the vast archipelago. To ordinary Indonesians, his election and his administration's efforts to engage the Muslim world are signs that America is tolerant and appreciative of diversity, attributes that they admire.
Thus, there was considerable disappointment when news broke that Obama's Indonesia visit — said to be around the time of the Apec summit in Singapore — would be postponed.
On Sunday, Obama promised that he would visit the archipelago next year, adding that he hoped to bring his family with him.
By the time he touches down, it would have been more than a year since Yudhoyono's speech in Washington last December, where he called for a “strategic partnership” between the United States and Indonesia.
Many in Indonesia, who agree that closer ties between both countries are overdue, are keen to know what this means. Those who are more bearish have urged Indonesia to protect its independence even as it forges alliances.
“We need to make sure the partnership is not just strategic for the US, but for Indonesia too, and this means carefully choosing the areas in which we want more cooperation. This would include education and health, but it is a different ball game once we come to military or energy security,” said international relations lecturer Bantarto Bandoro.
Sunday's meeting was closely watched in the hope that it would yield specific answers, but both leaders chose to speak about their enhanced partnership in broad terms.
Obama said he was “very excited about our prospects for deepening relations in the future”, while Yudhoyono said both countries had “renewed our commitment to elevate relations at a higher level for comprehensive partnerships”.
What can be gleaned from their comments is this: For now, at least, the US is focused on supporting Indonesia in its rise, heartened by its obvious efforts to entrench democracy, embrace moderate Islam and combat poverty, among other things.
Said veteran journalist Meidytama Suryodiningrat: “This partnership is more nuanced rather than just an outright political alliance. It is focused on strengthening civil society, on areas of education and social welfare.”
Obama also confirmed on Sunday that the US Peace Corps will return to Indonesia after a 44-year hiatus, a topic that had come up when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a well-received trip to Jakarta in February.
The Peace Corps programme sends Americans abroad for two years to participate in development projects in sectors such as education and agriculture.
Another takeaway from the meeting, which Obama reportedly requested, is a sense of how the US will continue to define its national interest in its relations with Asia.
Political scientist and Indonesia specialist Professor William Liddle of Ohio State University pointed out that while it was widely believed that Obama would visit Indonesia on his recent Asia tour, he ended up going to Japan, China and South Korea. These are the countries that any American president would visit, he wrote in an e-mail to The Straits Times.
He added: “I am reminded that for all American presidents, there are pressing international issues that tend to take precedence over relations with Indonesia or even Asean.”
This is not an issue for the Indonesian government, given its current priorities. Even as it engages the US and other partners, it is keenly aware that Asean and the region will continue to remain central to its foreign policy.
For Obama's fan base in Indonesia, what is key is that he keeps to his promise and pays the country a visit. He can be assured of a rousing welcome when he does. — The Straits Times
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