May 31st 2002
By Asad Latif
When defence ministers and other officials from Asia, the United States, Britain and elsewhere meet for a dialogue that begins here today, they will demonstrate the crucial role which Asia plays in international security.
Asia's role was hardly a secret even before terrorists attached the US last year. However, the reach of a terrorist network operating from a ruined Afghanistan dramatised just how closely the security of one part of the world is tied to another.
Within Asia itself, the aftermath of Sept.11 highlights the need for countries to cooperate against the international phenomenon of terrorism.
There is a problem, however. What if individuals do not create security problems inside their own countries but do so for other countries. Should their governments act against them?
Dr John Chipman is the director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), which is organising the "Shangri-La Dialogue", named after the hotel where it will be held. The 45-year-old scholar - who captained the fencing team at Harvard, from he graduated in history before continuing his fencing and taking his doctorate at Oxford - chooses his words carefully during an interview held here on Wednesday.
Asked about Indonesia's role in fighting terror, he says: "The problem, in terms of Indonesia's regional relationships, is that the individuals who are active within Indonesia and connected to networks that operate outside of Indonesia do not, strictly speaking, pose for the Indonesian government an internal security threat."
They pose, instead, a potential threat for some of the countries in the region, including Singapore.
The question is whether the "parochial political ambitions and concerns of Indonesian politicians" will allow the country to meet the international security needs of the region, he says, without implying in any way that the politicians themselves support terrorism.
The problematic interplay of domestic politics
