Workshop Report – America in Question: Indonesian Democracy and the Challenge of Counter-Terrorism in Southeast Asia
Paul Evans, Liu Faculty, UBC
January 29, 2006
The workshop was the third and final in a series of meetings on “Rebuilding American Security” funded by the Ford Foundation and organized by the Liu Institute for Global Issues in cooperation with partner institutions in Asia. The basic question informing the series was how democratization in Asia affects national security priorities, views of US security policy, and relations with the US. It followed earlier meetings in Santa Monica and Seoul.
As outlined in the concept paper circulated in advance of the meeting (see Annex 1), the Jakarta workshop aimed to assess Indonesian reactions to the Bush administration’s security strategy, especially its approach to countering terrorism in Southeast Asia. Indonesia was selected because of its size, the fact that it contains the largest Muslim population in the world, its renewed importance within Southeast Asia, its activities in combating terrorism and religious extremism, and its march to democracy in the post-Suharto era.
The fifty-five participants included twelve from the United States, Singapore, Canada and Japan and the remainder from research institutes, NGOs, religious organizations, political parties, parliament, government agencies, the media and universities in Jakarta, chosen to represent a variety of political, ideological and generational perspectives. The discussion was conducted in English and, save for the views expressed in the background papers, on a non-attribution basis. Almost all of the Indonesian participants had extensive first-hand experience with the United States, including time spent in the US as students, teachers or diplomatic representatives, or having had regular interactions with American officials, academics or professionals.
The Report:
Workshop Report
Annex 1 – Concept Paper
Annex 2 – Mujani and Liddle
Annex 3 – Baswedan
Annex 4 – Jones
Annex 5 – Effendy
Annex 6 – Emmerson
Annex 7 – Soesastro
Annex 8 – Biodata of Role Players
