Smart
power is a not-so-new concept in global politics. In fact, it was
introduced in the early 1990s. Smart power is the continuation of soft
power as an alternative power that can change the traditional paradigm
about the balancing of “hard power” between countries. Thus, smart power
is a mixture of both hard and soft elements of power.
Nevertheless,
smart power has recently attracted more studies and exploration, and
smart power as a buzzword is becoming used more often by countries’
elites and political leaders. Hillary Clinton, for example, in her
farewell address called for the need of smart power for contemporary and
future US foreign policy. She emphasized that it was necessary not
because US power was declining; rather, the power as well as threats were
diffusing and “the world becomes ever more interdependent and
interconnected”.
In Indonesia,
smart power is also increasingly gaining in attraction and popularity. On
several occasions, the Indonesian Military (TNI) elite has used the term
to explain how the defense force must cope with future multidimensional
threats and challenges. Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro, for
example, asserted that, “the concept of smart power is principally the
potential synergy of civilian and military”. His deputy, Sjafrie
Sjamsoeddin, spoke of a similar theme, although he inferred it as the use
of power smartly (small but effective and efficient) with due regard to
TNI minimum essential forces (MEF). The TNI commander, followed by his
staff, also expressed the need for smart power implementations.
These simply
demonstrate how the smart power concept has affected the military
leadership in Indonesia as well as within the TNI as an organization.
According to
Joseph S. Nye, who coined the term, smart power is the right combination
of hard and soft elements of power in order to achieve the national
goals. At first, it was for compensating for limited usage of the US hard
power in the contemporary political realm. Nye asserts that the US cannot
rely merely on its military and economic might. Moreover, he believes
that a US heavy-handed posture may not only be ineffective but also may
backfire, hurting the US interests, as the interdependency among states
has been growing even larger.
In contrast,
Nye offers the manipulation of such interdependency by the optimization
of the US “co-optive power” derived from ideological and cultural
attraction as well as institutional credibility — namely, soft power. He
even confirms that soft power may become the new instrument of power
(IoP), just like the prior grouping of elements of national power, DIME
(diplomacy, information, military and economy). With the right proportion
and timing application between hard and soft power, comes the new form of
power: smart power.
As we know,
TNI is the hard power resource. The question now is whether TNI has soft
power that can form smart power.
The thesis
built here is that TNI may have soft power as a capability for at least
three reasons.
First,
Indonesia secured independence through (or mostly known) armed struggle.
In this case, the role of TNI was so vital and central that Indonesia’s
independence seemed impossible without it. In other words, TNI history
shapes Indonesian history as a whole.
Furthermore,
there is a TNI ideal, which is transferred from generation to generation:
TNI is the strongest unifying force that stands above all Indonesians in
their inherent diversity. This also has made the TNI persona so popular.
One example is the way former high-ranking TNI personnel are able to
occupy many eminent public posts, although contemporary Indonesia falls
under civilian supremacy. With the 2014 election drawing closer, several
surveys show that presidential candidates with military backgrounds lead
in the popularity rating.
Second, it is
so fortunate for TNI that Indonesia is a hierarchical society originated
from previous kingdoms. The knights, soldiers or military in the
contemporary sense, are a prominent class within society. This cultural
characteristic was amplified by the Indonesian war-dominated history.
Even after independence, the soldier class has dominated Indonesian
culture for more than four decades (prior to the Reform era).
As a result,
the military still characterizes the new Indonesian democracy. This is
apparent in how political parties structure their organizations, which
treat their party leaders like the military commander. The easiest
observation is the way political parties dress up their so-called task
force with military-like camouflage and berets. In the soft power
context, such cultural attraction equals co-optive power or an entry
point to have the other act according to our own agenda.
Third,
although in contemporary Indonesia, the military is already out of
politics, TNI still has an inescapable political influence because of its
institutional environs. The simplest explanation is like this. TNI has
more than 600,000 members that have at least five people with an
affectionate or emotional connection. With the Indonesia kinship society
model, for example, wife, children, parents, siblings and those who are
akin that see the TNI member in their (extended) family as a role model.
Hence, 3 million people or almost 2 percent of the population are TNI
sympathizers.
TNI used to
be political power. Although it has stopped, the infrastructure is still
intact within society. For example, the army has a territorial structure
that ranges from provincial level down to every village. Those
TNI-civilian interfaces have existed long enough among the people so that
they have become focal points for solving social issues. Therefore, it is
unsurprising that people sometimes also go to the local military
authority, rather than police, when facing security problems.
Such sympathy
and legitimacy, both are the source of soft power.
The three
reasons above confirm that TNI has soft power. TNI can enhance those
sources of power up to the next level to realize power as outcome. Several
developing methods are: reintroducing TNI values upon the people;
organizational transparency that is free from corruption, public audits,
not being too sensitive in sharing information, opening bases for public
usage and active participation in solving social issues. Within the near
future, it is possible to reconsider TNI participation in the
presidential election or a TNI justice system for civilians.
In
conclusion, since TNI may possess soft power then it may also have smart
power. TNI soft power will act as an enhancer and an enabler for its hard
power. If all civilian agencies agree that TNI’s character is the role
model for their member’s character building, and the money for doing so
is around 5 percent of their budget, TNI virtually will save 5 percent of
its spending.
Furthermore,
if TNI wins the people’s legitimacy, it enables TNI to do what is best
for TNI since it is also the best for the people. This is actually how
smart power works. ●
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