Tag Archives: Indonesia

Indonesia’s Environmental Diplomacy in the South China Sea

  Indonesia’s foreign policy is shaping by various factors such as the nation’s history, its geographic conditions, its demography and its security and national interest. These factors prompted Indonesia to adopt a foreign policy that is independent and active.

As we may aware, the issues on environment have a broad aspect, from the issues of our daily life to global economic and politics, from environment in our neighborhood to the issues of climate change. Talking about environmental issues, we can say that all of those issues connected to the Indonesia’s national interest. Combating environmental degradation should be a key strategic. In this regard, we could understand if Indonesia puts issues on environment on their foreign policy and promotes bilateral and multilateral cooperation actively.

First Achievement On Indonesia’s Diplomacy

The Linggajati Agreement was a key political accord in the struggle of Indonesia for Independence. When the Republic of Indonesia proclaimed its independence on August 17, 1945, right after Japanese surrender to the Allies, Colonialist Government of Dutch tried to regain control of the former East Indies by sending more troops to attack Indonesian strongholds. It was noticed that between 1945 and 1949 they undertook two military actions.

In this regard, the freedom fight continued and Dutch military aggressions met with solid resistance from Indonesian troops. Along with military action, the young Republic of Indonesian conducted also a diplomatic offensive against the Dutch. Indonesia raised the Dutch’s invasion to the United Nations and pushed the Dutch Government to negotiate.

Selamat Jalan Diplomat Pejuang Perdamaian

Kemarin pagi (11/12), saya baru saja tiba di kantor ketika seorang rekan memberitahukan bahwa Pak Ali Alatas telah berpulang pada pukul 07.30 di rumah sakit Mount Elizabeth Singapura dalam usia 76 tahun. Meski sudah beberapa waktu lalu mendengar bahwa beliau sedang dirawat di Singapura, namun tak urung berita wafatnya beliau cukup membuat kaget.

Sebagai staf di departemen dimana Pak Ali Alatas pernah menjadi menteri selama 12 tahun (1987-1999), saya beruntung sempat beberapa kali bertemu beliau. Untuk itu saya ingin sedikit berbagi pengalaman bertemu Pak Ali Alatas dan kesan terhadapnya.

Perjumpaan pertama saya dengan Pak Ali Alatas terjadi saat KTT APEC di Manila tahun 1996. Saat itu Pak Ali Alatas adalah Menlu RI yang hadir sebagai salah satu anggota Delegasi RI yang dipimpin Presiden Soeharto. Pada suatu kesempatan, beliau sempat diminta berfoto bareng oleh para ibu-ibu istri staf Kedutaan. Dengan tersenyum ramah beliau memenuhi permintaan tersebut, bahkan sempat menanyakan usia kehamilan istri saya yang saat itu sedang mengandung anak pertama. Terus terang saat itu saya tidak menyangka kalau dengan keramahan dan senyum khasnya beliau ternyata menjadi favorit ibu-ibu.