Figure 1. Indonesia International Defense Science Seminar (IIDSS)
Indonesia Defense University (IDU) held Indonesia International Defense Science Seminar (IIDSS) 2018 with the theme “Strengthening Defense Diplomacy to Address Common Security Challenges” on July 10 – 11, 2018, at Grand Mercure Hotel Kemayoran, Jakarta. IIDSS has been conducted twice since 2017, and in 2018, the seminar focuses on security, stability, and humanitarian issues and related subjects to defense studies and defense technologies of the world. The event was attended by students, academician, professionals, government agencies, the Indonesian armed forces, Police, Intelligence Agency, representatives of foreign defense institution, ambassadors and foreign armed forces.
The IIDSS was opened by the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, General (Retired) Dr. Wiranto. In the opening speech, General (Retired) Dr. Wiranto appreciated IDU for the IIDSS 2018. According to him, this event is one of Indonesia’s contribution to the establishment of a world order based on freedom. The IDSS issue is about defense diplomacy as in diplomacy that utilizes defense resources through the diplomatic manner and method for peaceful purposes.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Indonesia, General (Retired) Ryamizard Ryacudu became a keynote speaker at the IIDSS event. He emphasized in his speech that the defense diplomacy concept of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Indonesia is currently implemented through a strategic approach and a gentle approach of Defense Diplomacy with Four Framing Polar, a friendly approach to the four major powers of the Indo-Pacific Region, US, China, Russia, and ASEAN. This includes how to handle conflict and dispute in the South China Sea involving several countries in the region.
IIDSS held six sessions in two days with speakers of each topic in different sessions. The six sessions included (1) Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), (2) Transnational Organized Crime (TOC), (3) Terrorism and Separatism Challenges, (4) Energy and Natural Resources, (5) Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief, and (6) Media and Information. In this event, professional and experienced speakers from Indonesia and overseas were present to share experiences and knowledge related to the development of defense sector around the world.
Global Diplomacy on Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
The first session consisted of four speakers with Colonel Jonni Mahroza OBE., Ph.D. as moderator. Colonel Dmitry Zaporozhets as Deputy Chief of the International Treaty Directorate of the Main Department of International Military Cooperation of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian spoke on Global Diplomacy on Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). He spoke of the role of the ministry of defense of Russia in the fulfillment of the international obligations of the Russian Federation in the field of chemical disarmament. Dr. Lijun Shang as a lecturer at the University of Bradford talked about preventing chemical weapons: arms control and disarmament as the sciences converge. In theory, there are two chemical weapons, namely classical chemical agents (Nerve Agents) and Industrial Chemical (Chlorine).
Prof. Marie Isabelle Chevrier of Rutgers University, Camden, US, explained the history of using chemical weapons and the laws governing it such as today’s Syrian War, the use of a chemical weapon can quickly kill many humans. Then the last of the session was Dr. Shri Sudhir Kumar Mishra of BrahMos Aerospace (India-Russia Joint Venture) described Cruise Missiles Evolution, Development, and Future, how to use a warhead (missile) containing hazardous materials and how far it reaches the target combat.
Transnational Organized Crime (TOC)
The second session in IIDSS discussed Transnational Organized Crime (TOC) with Rear Admiral (Retired) Surya Wiranto as a moderator. Vice Admiral (Retired) Desi Albert Mamahit as the first speaker in this session discussed the cooperation among navy and other agencies to counter drug trafficking in Indonesia. Brigadier General (Police) Puji Sarwono as a Deputy for Legal Affairs and Cooperation from The National Narcotics Board discussed Transnational Cooperation (TNCP) policy to combat money laundering from illicit drugs and cracking down Transnational Crime (TNC). Next, Drs Kiagus Ahmad Badaruddin M.Sc as the Head of Center for Financial Transaction Reporting and Analysis (PPATK) spoke about cracking down transnational organized crimes (TOC) in the ASEAN Region. Then the last speaker at this session was Alexey Pronichkin from Russia who discussed marine cyber-security.
Energy and Natural Resources
The third Session in the Indonesia International Defense Science Seminar (IIDSS) 2018 covered the topic of Energy and Natural Resources – Promoting Sustainable Resources Development. During this session, the speakers highlighted the importance of sustainable resource development in promoting national security. There were four speakers in this session both from Indonesia and foreign countries.
The first speaker was Dr. Haryo Budi Nugroho as the Deputy Assistant to the Special Envoy of the President of the Republic of Indonesia for Maritime Delimitation. Dr. Haryo talked about Indonesia’s role in upholding the UNCLOS agreement in the South China Sea (SCS). The SCS has been a disputed area of its neighboring countries with several countries publishing their own version of the territorial landmark. China’s claim of the SCS has been considered as excessive and spark conflicts with the neighboring countries. SCS is an important area with enormous natural resources including oil and gas reservoirs. While Indonesia maritime rights in the SCS is guaranteed by the 1982 UNCLOS, it is important to mediate the neighboring countries also to honor the agreement. As Indonesia has been considered as the most honest broker in the SCS case, Indonesia’s diplomatic stance is an important tool in resolving SCS dispute.
The next speaker was Dr. Martin Anda from Murdoch University, Australia. He highlighted Renewable Energy promotion and development in Eastern Indonesia in order to reach the Paris Agreement Target. He mentioned that Indonesia and Australia are facing a similar challenge. Indonesia sets a target of 23% renewable energy mix by 2025 while Australia planned to have 20% of their electricity coming from renewable energy by 2020. However, it is not only the goal that is similar, both Indonesia and Australia have a similar renewable energy potential thus cooperation in research and development of such technologies between the two countries are important. Dr. Martin see Eastern Indonesia as a prime area for the development of renewable energy as Eastern Indonesia has a huge potential for renewable energy and has been the target of infrastructure development in recent years. Murdoch University has cooperated with several Indonesian institutions to do research and development of renewable energy application to Indonesia’s isolated area and aims to spread their area even further with the upcoming development framework.
Alexander Rusev from International Power Supply was the third speaker with a focus on Hybrid and Off-grid Power Systems. Mr. Alexander highlighted Indonesia’s electrification challenges with the border area as the focal point. The border area in Indonesia is mainly located in an off-grid location and depends on diesel fuel generator. There is also numerous military base which will need an electricity supply to operate in these areas adequately. Alexander proposed an off-grid electrification system powered by solar energy. The proposed system was designed to be reliable and only require minimum to no maintenance at all which will suit the challenges faced by Indonesia in the border electrification. Additionally, the system provides a cloud-based monitoring system to the user which is important in the border area. IPS also has numerous experience in military bases electrification and is currently doing joint research with UNHAN, ITB, and PT. Len. He believed that the proposed off-grid electrification system would be the answer in facing the challenges.
The last speaker is Dr. Darmansjah Djumala, M.A. as the Indonesian Ambassador to Austria and Slovenia. Dr. Darmansjah focused on down-to-earth multilateral diplomacy in promoting prosperity through peaceful uses of nuclear. Nuclear energy has always been a case of controversy. While nuclear energy is able to provide numerous helpful application, fear of nuclear energy misuse as a weapon always linger in the heart of every nation. However, a concept of down-to-earth multilateral diplomacy is expected to create a chance to develop nuclear energy application in a nation. First of all, it is important to have a good multilateral relation and create a broad understanding of nuclear use. Nuclear can be used in various non-traditional security such as providing energy and medical application. Indonesia has been working together with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to begin several initiatives to develop nuclear energy application.
Terrorism and Separatism Challenges
In the fourth session of the second day of the IIDSS, the discussion on Terrorism and Separatism Challenges was moderated by Colonel Dr. Ir. Rudy Agus Gemilang Gultom, M.Sc. Brigadier General (Retired) Rolando Jungco from the National Defense College of the Philippines discussed Southeast Asia’s cooperation for regional stability: The Case of Counters – terrorism initiatives. Then Prof. Paul A Jargowsky from Rutgers University, Camden, US, discussed urban segregation and the rise of civil unrest, separatist movements, and terrorism. He presented a scientific argument that poverty is the root of separatist movements and terrorism. Meanwhile, Rafendi Djamin as a senior advisor of the Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) discussed the forced displacement management crisis over Rakhine State.
Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief
In the fifth session, the discussion covered Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief with Nugroho Adi Sasongko, ST, M.Sc, Ph.D. as a moderator. Andre Omer Siregar as a Director of Asia Pacific and African Inter-Regional Cooperation spoke of regional cooperation to respond to the Impact of Sea Level Rise and Climate Change on the Island Nations: Indonesia Perspective. Then, Stephen Cameron from the Oxford University Department of Computer Science discusses the SUAAVE Project (Drone) for mapping. The last one in this session was Prof. Josaphat Tetuko Sri Sumantyo from Chiba University who discussed satellite technology to support disaster relief management.
Media and Information
Media and Information was the last session and last part of a series of IIDSS. This session was moderated by Aris Arif Mundayat Ph.D. Akhyari Hananto as the founder and chief editor of Good News from Indonesia spoke about positive media and various issue in media online. The session discussed how positivity has opportunities and how the media prevents HOAX issues. Then the next speaker was Ardi Sutedja as the chairman and founder of Digital Security Forum (Forum Keamanan Maya). He talked about the media revolution 4.0. Challenges for maintaining Information Integrity in Disruptive News Dissemination Era. The last one is Augustine Chiew from HUAWEI telecommunication company. He talked about the effectiveness and benefits of media and information in the present.
