Gearing up for `three-block war’

| Evan A. Laksmana | Jakarta, 9 October 2009 |

On Oct. 5, the Indonesian Military (TNI) celebrated its 64th anniversary amid tough times. Domestically, Indonesia’s recurring natural disasters in the past five years have kept the TNI fully-occupied. A string of deadly military accidents and recurrent drops in defense budgets have also made things more difficult.

Internationally, the rise of low-intensity conflicts across the globe and rising pressure on overburdened US forces has seen a growing demand for TNI participation in international peacekeeping forces. More importantly, regional tensions still simmer beneath the surface, at a time when the military balance of power is not in our favor.

Not only we remain geo-strategically vulnerable due to our poor operational readiness, but our neighbors are several steps ahead in the development of their forces.

Filed under: Civil-Military Relations, Defense Transformation

Will the state secrecy bill suffocate the TNI?

| Evan A. Laksmana | Jakarta, 27 August 2009 |

Amidst all the gung-ho following the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott bombings and the aftermath of the general elections, one could easily forget that the controversial state secrecy bill is being discussed and could soon be passed into law.

Despite heavy criticism claiming the bill would turn back the clock on democratic freedom and accountability, defense officials claim there is nothing to worry about as the bill is meant to protect strategic state information — which was true of the very first draft initially set to protect specific defense information, but not of the current draft that covers the protection of information from other government agencies and ministries.

Oddly, although skeptics argue the bill will ultimately kill our democracy, very few, if any, have pointed out the long term implications of the bill to the military itself.

Filed under: Civil-Military Relations, Defense Transformation

Ways of War or Ways of Battle?

| Evan A. Laksmana | Singapore, 1 April 2008 |

Today, I had a class on “The Revolution in Military Affairs”, where I had to present a summary of this week’s readings on the ways of war–these include John Keegan’s History of Warfare, Victor David Hanson’s Carnage and Culture, along with smaller pieces by US military strategists.

What was interesting about today’s class was the argument that war, contrary to my Clausewitzian mind, was nothing more than a “cultural expression” (Keegan). Granted that Keegan clearly either misintepret Clausewitz or didn’t actually read On War–or both. But the idea that “culture” defines war and warfare is an intriguing argument.

Filed under: Defense Transformation, Military History - General