CENTRAL JAVA -- PROMOTING U.S.-INDONESIAN RELATIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 000185 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, INR/EAP, DRL, EAP/PD, S/CT, INL SECDEF FOR USDP/ISA/AP P.IPSEN NSC FOR E.PHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/30/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV KPAO ID SUBJECT: CENTRAL JAVA -- PROMOTING U.S.-INDONESIAN RELATIONS JAKARTA 00000185 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Pol/C Joseph Legend Novak, reasons 1.4 (b+d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: POL Regional Security Unit Chief met security policy scholars, and spoke at a local university and Muslim boarding school in Yogjakarta, central Java, January 28-29. He highlighted positive developments in U.S.-Indonesian relations, and opportunities for further cooperation on reform and international issues. The scholars reviewed the latest thinking on police and defense reform in Indonesia. Student participants in the two outreach sessions asked a wide range of questions about U.S. foreign policy. END SUMMARY. PUBLIC OUTREACH IN YOGJAKARTA ¶2. (U) Regional Stability Unit Chief spoke about U.S.-Indonesian bilateral relations to a graduate-level class at Gadjah Mada University and at a pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in Yogjakarta in central Java, January 28-29. To the 30 students at the university and almost 200 students at the pesantren RSU Chief emphasized the progress Indonesia had made in the past decade, which had helped establish a strong basis for bilateral cooperation on reform, regional security and international issues. In looking ahead to next steps, RSU Chief made the following key points: -- Establishing democracy needs to include good governance by national and local officials who act in the public's interest and whose decisions cannot be bought by special interests. The United States needs such a counterpart in order to address effectively the environmental and health issues of the day, including HIV/AIDS, avian influenza and the destruction of rain forests. -- The U.S. will continue to play an important role in the security of Southeast Asia and wants a partnership based on equality, mutual respect, common interests and the shared values of freedom, pluralism and tolerance. To do this effectively, the United States looks to Indonesia to develop professional police and military forces which share this vision and can work with us as equal partners. -- Our two countries continue to cooperate on important international issues, including Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Burma. As the world's leading Muslim-majority state and a leading state in Southeast Asia, Indonesia has a crucial leadership role to play in resolving these and other issues. ¶3. (U) RSU Chief also reviewed various U.S. exchange and scholarship programs--particularly those available to university students--for study in the United States and offered to provide further information to interested students. There was considerable interest among students in these opportunities. Several students noted the positive impact of the American Corner at Gadjah Mada University in promoting ties with the United States. ¶4. (U) Follow-on discussion with the students was lively and easily filled the two-hour window for each event. Students were particularly interested in: U.S. views of democracy in an Islamic cultural context; whether Americans saw pesantren as hotbeds of terrorism; the reasons for the United States' support for Israel and current U.S. efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East; the impact of the U.S. economy on the global economic situation; the rationale for U.S. positions on the Tokyo Protocol and the Bali UN Framework Conference on Climate Change; and, why Papua was of concern to the United States. Students also asked about the U.S. elections. MEETING SECURITY POLICY EXPERTS ¶5. (U) RSU Chief met in Yogjakarta with scholars at Gadjah Mada University's Center for Security and Peace Studies (CSPS) to discuss progress and next steps in security sector reform in Indonesia. The Center was established in the JAKARTA 00000185 002.2 OF 002 1990's on the initiative of several university professors to promote cooperation with reform-minded elements within the Indonesian armed forces (including its then-integrated police wing) in the last years of the Suharto era. Largely privately funded, the Center currently facilitates research by as many as 50 scholars from Gadjah Mada and other Indonesian universities on security issues. ¶6. (U) Since 1998, the focus of those studies has gravitated toward police issues, but the Center also hopes to encourage more attention to military issues in the future. RSU Chief discussed possibilities for cooperation with U.S. counterparts and offered to explore potential USG assistance opportunities in this area. (Note: Administrators said the Center had received assistance from the National Democratic Institute, NDI, in its formative years.) ¶7. (C) One scholar discussed his research on conflict resolution with particular attention to the communal conflict in Poso, which is now in a post-conflict stage. The scholar attributed the success of conflict resolution in Poso to the combined efforts of senior government leaders, judicious use of police forces, community initiatives to heal the breach and investment in new facilities, such as a modern pesantren. Another academic detailed current initiatives by government and civil-society groups to develop "community policing" (pro-active outreach by police forces to local communities), a non-traditional role of security forces in Indonesia, which remain largely centralized as national institutions. A third researcher discussed the importance of the police and military in administration at the provincial and local levels, where governors and subordinate officials routinely consulted military officials in making decisions of governance. DISCUSSING DEFENSE REFORM ¶8. (C) Regarding defense reform, the scholars offered the view that the Indonesian military (TNI) needed to push structural reform further. The TNI was hampered in effecting this transition by a lack of equipment and material resources and therefore an inability to perform its professional defense and other related functions, including humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. ¶9. (C) For the military, the result of these factors was a lack of direction, a sense of drift and a turning inward. The central ingredient needed to move this reform agenda forward was adequate budgetary funding. Adequate funding would allow the TNI to focus on the accomplishment of concrete activities and attainable goals. RSU Chief underscored USG willingness to cooperate re defense reform. He also underlined the importance of civilian control of the military, stressing that the military must stay out of politics. ¶10. (U) CSPS staff and scholars expressed avid interest in maintaining professional contacts with U.S. counterparts, and welcomed any exchanges which would bring U.S. scholars to Gadjah Mada University and CSPS. HUME