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Contents v The Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Southeast Asia vii Editorial 1 Living in the Shadow of 11 September: How External Variable Factors Have Shaped the Domestic Politics of Malaysia Farish A. Noor 21 11 September 2001: Attacks on Which Civilization? Michael Ehrke 27 World in Autumn: New Risks and New Front Lines after 11 September Michael Dauderstädt 33 What Do the Opponents of Globalization Want? Michael Ehrke 39 Decent Work: The International Labour Organization Agenda Werner Sengenberger 57 Globalizing Social Justice: Positions of the International Trade Union Organizations on the Reform of World Trade and Financial Systems Erwin Schweisshelm 65 Sustainable Development and Social Justice Must Be Part of the Political Agenda in the Next WTO Round German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) 69 International Confederation of Free Trade Unions Statement on the Agenda for the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization International Confederation of Free Trade Unions 73 The Liberalization of World Trade in Services Must Not Disregard Human Needs: DGB Demands in Connection with the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) 77 Bringing About Change in Burma Harn Yawnghwe iii The Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Southeast Asia The Friedrich Ebert Stiftung has been active in Southeast Asia for more than 30 years. Its country offices in Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila and Hanoi have been active in implementing national cooperation programmes in partnership with parliaments, civil society groups and non-governmental organizations, academic institutions and ‘think-tanks’, government departments, political parties, women’s groups, trade unions, business associations and the media. In 1995, the Singapore office was transformed into an Office for Regional Cooperation in Southeast Asia. Its role is to support, in close cooperation with the country offices in the region, ASEAN cooperation and integration, Asia-Europe dialogue and partnership, and country programmes in Cambodia and other ASEAN member states where there are no Friedrich Ebert Stiftung offices. Its activities include dialogue programmes, international and regional conferences (e.g. on human rights, social policy, democratization, comprehensive security), Asia-Europe exchanges, civil education, scholarship programmes, research (social, economic and labour policies, foreign policy) as well as programmes with trade unions and media institutes. Dialogue + Cooperation is a reflection of the work of the Office for Regional Cooperation in Southeast Asia of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Singapore: it deals with ASEAN cooperation as well as the Asia- Europe dialogue. Dialogue + Cooperation will tell you about our activities in Southeast Asia by publishing important contributions to our conferences and papers from our own work. Dialogue + Cooperation will contribute to the dialogue between Asia and Europe by systematically covering specific up-to-date topics which are of concern for the two regions. Dialogue + Cooperation will be an instrument for networking by offering you the opportunity to make a contribution and use it as a platform for communication. Director: Dr Erfried Adam Address: 7500A Beach Road #12 - 320/321/322 The Plaza Singapore 199591 Tel: (65) 29 76 760 Fax: (65) 29 76 762 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.fesspore.org v Editorial: Dialogue+Cooperation: 2/2001 Dear Reader Two issues are dominating the present international agenda to a large extent: The first is the terrorist attack of 11 September on New York and Washington, the ‘war against terrorism’ and reactions and responses to both, and the second is the future of ‘globalization’ and free trade, in particular the World Trade Organization. A number of commentators came to the conclusion of a close inter-relationship between the two issues, whilst trying to establish the ‘root causes’ of terrorism. This second issue of Dialogue + Cooperation: Occasional Papers on Southeast Asia and Europe does not attempt to answer or contribute directly to this controversy. We asked the Malaysian political scientist and expert on politics and Islam, Farish A. Noor, to analyse the reaction to 11 September in Muslim countries of Southeast Asia, in particular Malaysia. And as initial reflections on and reactions to 11 September in Germany we included two commentaries from Michael Ehrke and Michael Dauderstädt of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung headquarters. Michael Ehrke’s further article on ‘What Do the Opponents of Globalization Want?’ links up with the following articles that focus on a ‘globalization with social progress’: Werner Sengenberger’s article on ‘Decent Work: The ILO Agenda’ and the analysis of Erwin Schweisshelm, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Trade Union Coordinator, on ‘Globalizing Social Justice: Positions of the International Trade Union Organizations on the Reform of the World Trade and Financial Systems’, accompanied by documents from the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) on globalization, sustainable development and social justice. These articles seek to contribute to an ongoing debate on the role of the WTO and the ILO in the international system and new dimensions of ‘global governance’. The political situation in Myanmar/Burma, the denial of democratic participation and ongoing violations of human rights have been a stumbling-block for the positive and growing inter-relationship between ASEAN and the European Union and the position of the country in international relations. Recent press reports indicate that ‘secret talks’ between the ruling military government and the opposition leader Ms Aung San Suu Kyi seem to be progressing. The article ‘Bringing About Change in Burma’, written by Harn Yawnghwe in early 2001, presents background information and analysis from the perspective of the (exiled) opposition with the intention to contribute to a peaceful settlement of the continuing crisis. The Editors Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Office for Regional Cooperation in Southeast Asia Singapore vii Living in the Shadow of 11 September Living in the Shadow of 11 September: How External Variable Factors Have Shaped the Domestic Politics of Malaysia Farish A. Noor Globalization and Its Impact on Local Identities and Politics “It may be too optimistic to argue that the regional concept of Southeast Asian identity will become a permanent reality or endure indefinitely into the future. A lot will depend on external economic and strategic events which are beyond the control of Southeast Asian countries. These factors could unravel the unity and identity of the countries in Southeast Asia.” 1 Amitav Acharya That we now live in a globalized world is a thousands of miles away can (and will) have fact that no society can deny or reject. a subsequent impact on localities thought Globalization has made its presence felt in to be remote and isolated from it. even the most remote corners of the world and today it can no longer be said that there This paper sets out to examine the complex exist any localities that are truly insular. developments that took place in Malaysia The boundaries of time and space have in the wake of the 11 September terrorist collapsed and the parochial is now a thing attacks on New York and the Pentagon in of the past. The multiple geographies and the United States of America (USA). In epistemologies of the world are now in close particular it aims to study the ways in which proximity to (if not overlapping with) each the events in the USA were seen, other. The global has become localized, just understood and recontextualized in the local as the local has become globalized. In the Malaysian context by the two main Malay- same way that Chaos Theory teaches us that Muslim parties in the country, namely the a butterfly that flaps its wings in North ruling United Malays Nationalist America can affect weather conditions in Organization (UMNO)2 and the main Australia, likewise a political event Malay-Muslim opposition Pan-Malaysian 1. Amitav Acharya, The Quest for Identity: International Relations of Southeast Asia (Singapore: Oxford University Press in Asia, 2000), p. 168. 2. The conservative-nationalist UMNO party’s roots lie in the First Malay Congress that was held in Kuala Lumpur in March 1946. The Congress discussed a plan to form PEKEMBAR (Persatuan Kebangsaan Melayu Bersatu), but later opted for the title UMNO instead (United Malays Nationalist Organization). On 11 May 1946, the UMNO party was officially launched at the Istana Besar (Grand Palace) of Johor Bahru. The first President of UMNO was Dato’ Onn Jaafar. When the party was first established, it was a broad and all-encompassing organization that included Malay political movements from across the entire political spectrum of the country. Over time, however, the conservative character of UMNO emerged as the Leftists and Islamists began to leave the organization to form parties of their own. In the 1950s and 1960s, UMNO was under the leadership of the royalist-aristocrat Tunku Abdul Rahman, who was also the country’s first Prime Minister (1957-1969). The Tunku placed Malaysia on the initial path towards rapid development and during this period the country’s foreign policy was clearly aligned to the West. The Tunku’s era was also one where religion and politics were kept separate and the state did not attempt to play the religious card against its opponents. Between 1970 and 1981, UMNO was under the leadership of Tun Abdul Razak (1970-1976) and Hussein Onn (1976-1981), both of whom kept the country on the same trajectory. A major shift in orientation occurred when UMNO came under the leadership of Dr Mahathir Mohamed (1981-present) who took the country down the road of state-sponsored Islamization. But Dr Mahathir’s 1 Islamization policy was also an attempt to outflank the growing Islamist opposition in the country as well as a calculated attempt to redefine the meaning, content and expression of Islam and Muslim religiosity in terms that were compatible with modernity, progress and economic prosperity.