SUPREME COMMAND

Indonesian Civil and Military Relationships

How Should We Deal with It?

ASCSC Preparatory Course, Seminar 16

Can we really avoid civil and military relationships (CMR) within the country? CMR has always become one of the exciting topics in intellectual society. We can find it in most war world history in every country, even in Indonesia’s history. According to Cohen’s thesis about CMR in wartime, the military has an indispensable dependency on civilian control, which validates that civilians have the upper hand over the military[i]. Civilians and the military have a special relationship that cannot be separated during peace and wartime. The thesis applied in Indonesia’s CMR from the past to the present, with different applications and impacts.

As a nation, we must regulate the CMR within state management clearly. We can start by referring to the CMR within Indonesian history; there was a time when statesmen used the power of the military for political will. Then, continuing with the civil supremacy during Reformation Era when the abrupt reduction of military power in state administration. Furthermore, we can draw a line into the current CMR in Indonesia and how the application is. By examining these three periods, it is clear that Cohen’s statesman model can help Indonesia’s military becomes more effective and helps the government carry out its duties.

Indonesia has a strong CMR in history, especially during Mr. Soeharto, the 2^nd president of Indonesia from 1966 - 1998. This era we called the New Order, when the president used military power to control the nation through dual-function military doctrine. Based on this doctrine, some military members got assignments as the governor or mayor; moreover, some became members of the military faction in the Senate. As a statesman, he used military power as a political tool to press the opposition and impose the rule. According to Christopher Lazarki, freedom during democracy must be well-limited, and the regime should respect other authorities[ii]. If the president as an executive branch in democracy has no barrier, it will change to authoritarian. Eventually, people became disappointed, and many demonstrations happened, thus ending his regime.

After the New Order was replaced, continued by civil supremacy took the lead in Indonesian state administration, and we called it the Reformation Order. According to Huntington, in Subjective Civilian Control theory, civilian power will increase automatically when the military influence reduces.[iii] The new government took significant action to take control back from the military. The first was to amend the 1945 Constitution so the military must avoid practical politics. As a result, the military should focus on national defense issues for the purpose of professionalism. The next step was that the military did not vote in any election and did not have representatives in the Senate. This rapid change caused some controversy in the internal military; conversely, military influences dwindled from society.

Nowadays, Indonesia’s CMR has made great progress. According to Syamsul Hilal et al., civilians could not completely escape dependence on the military during the Reformation Era[iv]. This phenomenon still happens, obviously. Every province and regency has formal organizations named Local Leadership Meetings that accommodate coordination between the head of the local government and other stakeholder branches like the attorney general, police, and military within that area. Besides that, civil and military have shown outstanding relations during countermeasures and recovery from COVID-19. The government created a special joint task force between civil and military personnel; moreover, they got many assignments such as health care, regional quarantine, and mass vaccination. As a result, the military has become the most trusted government agency and is very close to the community.

To conclude, CMR is an interesting topic in every state’s life; however, at some level, it can decide a nation’s faith. According to Cohen’s thesis, the subordination between civil and military cannot be avoided because of the intention of leadership politics[v]. His thesis applies within Indonesian CMR from the past and is still applicable in the current condition. I believe that we need to manage CMR with certain regulations according to the situation and conditions. Indonesia as a nation has a long history of CMR, even though civil supremacy should have a big portion according to the Indonesian constitution; furthermore, CMR in Indonesia is getting better over time. Finally, civil and military should have the same objective when making a relationship to obtain the best possible outcome for the nation.

Maj. Dolly J. P. Hutagalung – Indonesian Air Force, ACSC, Seminar 164

Supreme Command Essay, 23 June 2023

Notes

I wish to thank Ms. Annie, Maj Fernando, Maj Akmal, and other fellow officers in the 164-communication skill class for their thoughtful comments and suggestions. All errors found therein are my own.

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[i]. Eliot A. Cohen, "The Soldier and The Statesman," in Supreme Command: Soldiers, Statesmen and Leadership in Wartime (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002). 

[ii]. Christopher Lazarski, "Conclusions Acton's Legacy and Lesson," in Power Tends to Corrupt: Lord Acton's Study of Liberty (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2012), 266, https://www-jstor-org.aufric.idm.oclc.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctv177tck0. 

[iii]. Samuel P. Huntington, "Power, Professionalism, and Ideology: Civil-Military Relations in Theory," in The Soldier and the State: The Theory and Politics of Civil–Military Relations (Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1957). 

[iv]. Syamsul Hilal et al., "Pasang Surut Hubungan Sipil Militer di Indonesia dan Tantangannya Pasa Masa Depan NKRI [The Ups and Downs of Civil-Military Relations in Indonesia and the Challenges in the Future of the Republic of Indonesia]," Jurnal Inovasi Pendidikan 2 (March 2022): https://stp-mataram.e-journal.id/JIP/article/view/1383/1063.

 [v]. Cohen, Supreme Command, 242.