An ASEAN Regional Perspective on Peace: Shifting the Paradigm
 |
| Myanmar's Police on alert. [Credit: Flickr Burma Partnership] |
“Do you believe your country is peaceful?” A simple question it may seem, yet when it was posed to participants at The Habibie Center-ASEAN Foundation’s roundtable discussion on “Culture of Peace in an ASEAN Regional Perspective” last month in March, it drew a varied and wide-ranging response.
Though all participants answered yes, they interestingly attached some form of caveat to qualify the term “peace.” These include peace as a process, as a perception, and as the absence of conflict. Additionally peace was qualified as social peace, political peace, and peace from a socio-economic development aspect. The difficulty in answering this question demonstrates the complexity of the issue we are dealing with, namely to define a common understanding of “peace.”
One thing for certain, however, is that as the leaders of the ten ASEAN member-states gather in Brunei Darussalam for the 22nd ASEAN Summit, they may reflect on a number of deadly conflicts that showcase a very un-peaceful region of late. Interreligious violence between Buddhists and Muslims in Myanmar, the Sabah stand-off between Malaysia and Filipino followers of the Sultan of Sulu, and clashes between Indonesia’s police force and army in South Sumatra, are just some examples. These cases pose disturbing questions about the appropriateness of ASEAN’s ambitious plans of forming an ASEAN Community in 2015. Arguably make a mockery of ASEAN’s Vision of a “concert of Southeast Asian nations…living in peace, stability and prosperity.”
Here then, we return to the heart of the issue: What do we mean by “peace”? It was for this very purpose that The Habibie Center-ASEAN Foundation’s roundtable discussion set out to address. Participants noted ASEAN’s tendency to have an outdated, limited and state-centric perspective on peace which often led to the oft-expressed but deeply flawed assertion that no wars have broken out in the region since ASEAN was established in 1967. This may be true if we use ASEAN’s outdated, limited and state-centric perspective on peace but for those involved in the interreligious violence in Myanmar, the stand-off in Sabah, Malaysia or the police-military clashes in South Sumatra, Indonesia, it is highly unlikely that the assertion the region is at peace will find much supporters. For victims, non-traditional conflicts cause no less suffering than classical state-to-state wars.
In this sense, there is a need for a shifting of paradigm when it comes to our understanding of peace. In particular this new paradigm must be more comprehensive, encompassing and relevant to the 21st century. A good starting point may be The Habibie Center-ASEAN Foundation’s “Key Elements of an ASEAN Culture of Peace and Key Recommendations towards developing an ASEAN Culture of Peace.”
It calls for an ASEAN Regional Perspective on a Culture of Peace that acknowledges the notion that peace is more than just the absence of war as well as taking a concern for climate change, ecological security, and equitable & sustainable development. This should be applauded for attempting to bring a more comprehensive definition to our understanding of peace.
Similarly, its acknowledgement of the important role of women and youths, not only in peace-building measures and conflict resolutions but also in the area of good governance, demonstrates a more encompassing understanding of peace. In other words, peace is more than just men laying down their firearms but also requires the bringing of women and youths into the equation. At the same time, the emphasis on education illustrates the embracing of socio-cultural aspects into our understanding of peace that goes beyond the typical emphasis on politico-security and economic considerations.
Lastly its relevance to the 21st century – where we are now witnessing a rise in non-traditional conflicts that departs from the classical state-to-state warfare – can be seen in the emphasis on changing the mind-set of the peoples (not states) of ASEAN to realize they are stronger together as one than apart as individuals. The call for us to respect and tolerate one another first and foremost as fellow citizens of ASEAN should be understood as raising our regional citizenship identity relative to our national identity. The old mentality of “Us” versus “Them” needs to be abandoned as it has no place in the increasingly connected 21st century of globalization. Related to this point is the call for the greater utilization of information and communication technology, especially social media, to propagate an ASEAN spirit from a bottom-up approach. This is particularly important as the role of social media has sometimes been used to perpetuate conflict through provoking and mobilizing perpetrators of violence. Thus, we need to seize such technology to serve as a force for peace rather than for violence.
No doubt, peace remains a complex issue. The use of war and violence is so entrenched around the world that for some, the history of mankind is a history of war. Indeed Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Dr. Marty Natalegawa noted that just as war is waged, so too must peace be waged with equal persistence and perseverance. By shifting the paradigm on our understanding of peace, we can take one small but significant step in our efforts to wage peace in the region. Hopefully a time will come when if the question, “Do you believe your country is peaceful” is asked, we, the peoples of ASEAN can all resolutely answer: Yes.
[This article was first published in The Jakarta Post on 10th May 2013 and can be found at: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/05/10/an-asean-perspective-peace-shifting-paradigm.html]
It calls for an ASEAN Regional Perspective on a Culture of Peace that acknowledges the notion that peace is more than just the absence of war as well as taking a concern for climate change, ecological security, and equitable & sustainable development. This should be applauded for attempting to bring a more comprehensive definition to our understanding of peace.
Similarly, its acknowledgement of the important role of women and youths, not only in peace-building measures and conflict resolutions but also in the area of good governance, demonstrates a more encompassing understanding of peace. In other words, peace is more than just men laying down their firearms but also requires the bringing of women and youths into the equation. At the same time, the emphasis on education illustrates the embracing of socio-cultural aspects into our understanding of peace that goes beyond the typical emphasis on politico-security and economic considerations.
Lastly its relevance to the 21st century – where we are now witnessing a rise in non-traditional conflicts that departs from the classical state-to-state warfare – can be seen in the emphasis on changing the mind-set of the peoples (not states) of ASEAN to realize they are stronger together as one than apart as individuals. The call for us to respect and tolerate one another first and foremost as fellow citizens of ASEAN should be understood as raising our regional citizenship identity relative to our national identity. The old mentality of “Us” versus “Them” needs to be abandoned as it has no place in the increasingly connected 21st century of globalization. Related to this point is the call for the greater utilization of information and communication technology, especially social media, to propagate an ASEAN spirit from a bottom-up approach. This is particularly important as the role of social media has sometimes been used to perpetuate conflict through provoking and mobilizing perpetrators of violence. Thus, we need to seize such technology to serve as a force for peace rather than for violence.
No doubt, peace remains a complex issue. The use of war and violence is so entrenched around the world that for some, the history of mankind is a history of war. Indeed Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Dr. Marty Natalegawa noted that just as war is waged, so too must peace be waged with equal persistence and perseverance. By shifting the paradigm on our understanding of peace, we can take one small but significant step in our efforts to wage peace in the region. Hopefully a time will come when if the question, “Do you believe your country is peaceful” is asked, we, the peoples of ASEAN can all resolutely answer: Yes.
[This article was first published in The Jakarta Post on 10th May 2013 and can be found at: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/05/10/an-asean-perspective-peace-shifting-paradigm.html]
Comments
Post a Comment