Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Opinion

Dev Raj Dahal, Head, FES Nepal office

Lying between the Himalayas and the Indian Ocean , South Asia forms an organic security zone— a zone that had historically shaped regional security by spreading the messages of civilization, cooperation and peace. Aware of historical reasoning about the political and psychological causes of war, ancient statesmen had jettisoned the policy of balance of power, self-help and state-centric order in favor of the freedom of the niovements of people, trade and commerce. The varied and deep economic and social links among the South Asian countries-- Bangladesh . Bhutan , India , Maldives , Nepal . Pakistan and Sri Lanka helped to generate a strong political will to build cooperation that disposed the governments to define security on welfare-maximizing terms. The consideration of the well-being of over one billion people of the region still constitutes the central objective of comprehensive security at inter-state and inter-societal level.

Europe is practicing “collective self-defense.” A common threat perception shapes the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), its security and autonomy encapsulated in the ideas of Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality. South Asia , however, is struggling to form a collective identity through shared values and interests in cooperation and engagement in restraint, non-confrontation and consultation. Does it mean that the region is marking a paradigm shift form the hitherto “internationalization of security policy” to regionalization? A vision of greater interdependence of the regional peoples and the states and shared interests in the promotion of peace and progress underlie the leitmotif of comprehensive security. By definition, comprehensive security encompasses the full range of survival, well-being and identity-related issues and the complex links between the domestic order and international relations. Besides, it subsumes vital strategic concerns of the states, markets and civil societies all acting together to achieve a higher source of public order based on social justice and equal access to the regional commons. Institutional development of regional policy objectives is essential to achieve coordinated action in issue areas. A secure region is that whose statesmen and citizens have the reason to perceive that internal and external environment are peaceful and all the levels of security assessment— individual, sub-national, state, regional and global—are co-dependent, mutually beneficial and cohesive.

South Asia can neither be separated from the global geopolitical contest nor from the main international security, political, economic and technological developments. Growing cooperation between the region and other global powers, including India and Pakistan . harmonization of positions of regional states on a number of international issues, including framework agreement on free trade areas (SAFTA), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and ratification of the Additional Protocol to the Convention on Suppression of Terrorism spell out the evolution of a realpolitk entente. Substantive dialogue on Kashmir , exchange of information on missile tests, opposition to open-ended arms race and promise to create a violence-free environment indicate a growing recognition towards mutual responsibility. Greater economic integration of South Asia, based on the foundation of the Social Charter, binds all countries to work together to increase efficiencies in poverty alleviation, education, trade, investment and environment management and reinforce the commitment to common responsibility for a stable peace.

Comprehensive security requires the creation of a viable regime with healthy bilateral relations between India and- its South Asian neighbors and effective multilateralism seeking the cooperation of the international community for an inclusive transformation of regional societies for effective governance.

Norm-Governed Regime

The principle of comprehensive security is a protective manifestation of the solidarity of peaceful states as opposed to that which sets exclusive national interests above those of the community interests of states and peoples. The structural character of the South Asian ties defines distinct perception about each nation’s self image, the other’s character, intentions and capabilities. This structural context describes the rational choices available to each state, rules of the game for cooperation and the conceptual conclusion of policy decisions. In this context, how can comprehensive security offer reasonable benefits for individual states that correspond with the regional interest constellations? Lord Buddha invented the idea of Panchasheel to regulate the conduct of human beings. On April 29. 1954 India and China conceptualized its historical relevance for the pacification of durable inter-state relations in Asia and tried to reduce the states’ sovereign potential for conflict.

Panchasheel, grounded on Asian language, culture, feeling and textuality, received further fillip during the Bangdung Conference of Afro-Asian states and subsequently served an ideological bedrock of the non-aligned movement’s pursuit for independence, equality and freedom of Asian, African and Latin American countries. Strengthening of the state’s efficiency was the order of the day. Weak states can neither ensure security to their citizens nor their neighbors without undergoing costs in resources which can be put for other uses. The five principles of coexistence underlined in Panchasheel ideally constitutes the cardinal principles of comprehensive security and at the same time forms the reason, art and method of multilateralism the regional countries are pursuing in the SAARC, the UN and non-aligned movements in the name of collective security. Regional civil societies and market institutions are already creating a “multiple space” for post-national activities and have been emphasizing conflict prevention and conflict resolution by the use of civilian means. Soft-regionalism is also developing on other fronts and drawing important powers into a loose network of economic, political and social relations for civil coexistence.

Civil Coexistence

Civil coexistence is not just a methodology. It is a virtue that can keep all the regional states cohesive enough to address the growing gap between traditional politics and social revolutions, seek evolutionary stability in state-society relations and support regional policies compatible with national aspirations. A propensity for evolutionary change is essential to create a critical leverage abroad in reaping the positive opportunities offered by the diffusion of international regimes, including the processes of globalization. Multi-lateral institutions established by SAARC have begun to deal with certain aspects of global governance. Adoption of a foreign policy of lower risk and greater accommodation has also begun to foster regional constellations and recti1’ the compulsion of adopting tilted’ non-alignment as well as distorted communication.

South Asia ’s harmonious development is possible if India-Pakistan ties improve and growing cooperation in “soft politics” binds shared interests in “hard politics”-- security, economy and international relations. Intensified political dialogues, confidence building measures (CBM) and social, economic, ecological and technological cooperation can create necessary conditions for reducing the threat of tension and rebellion and promote the foundation for economic and social justice, peace and progress in South Asia . The challenge to peace springs from the fundamental inability to see security as anything other than defense concern. When globalization is breaking the discipline and boundaries of the Westphalian system and reconnecting the regions and people, it is important to strengthen comprehensive security to enable South Asia to adjust in the existing multi-polar, hierarchical and competitive international system.

Sense of Community

The utility of SAARC lies in deepening and enlarging the areas of soft-politics with an aim of beefing up efforts to meet the need for comprehensive security in the region. Its political future rests on effectiveness and coherence --effectiveness in utilizing its principles, objectives and means and coherence on institutional routines designed to regulate exchange of relationship in functional areas of cooperation. Regime growth begins if both effectiveness and coherence in performance remains firm and common interests and consensus among them continue to grow. It requires the coherence of three approaches—bilateral coordination of action, regional coalition and global solidarity for collective action. Both the spirit and letter of the SAARC charter encourage the member states to strengthen the general structure of regional peace. South Asia can overcome its backwardness if its leadership can articulate the possibilities for an understanding between its public and the world,

November 19-20, 2004 , Kathmandu .