Arab leaders agree joint military force

Yahoo – AFP, Haitham El-Tabei, 29 March 2015

(Front from L-R) Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Kuwait Emir Sheikh 

Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, Yemeni 

President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and Sudanese President Omar al Bashir 

(middle-C) (AFP Photo/Mohamed Samaaha)

Sharm el Sheikh (Egypt) (AFP) - Arab leaders agreed on Sunday to form a joint military force after a summit dominated by a Saudi-led offensive on Shiite rebels in Yemen and the threat from Islamist extremism.

Arab representatives will meet over the next month to study the creation of the force and present their findings to defence ministers within four months, according to the resolution adopted by the leaders.

"Assuming the great responsibility imposed by the great challenges facing our Arab nation and threatening its capabilities, the Arab leaders had decided to agree on the principle of a joint Arab military force," Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told the summit in the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.

The decision was mostly aimed at fighting jihadists who have overrun swathes of Iraq and Syria and secured a foothold in Libya, Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi said ahead of the summit.

On Sunday, Arabi told the meeting the region was threatened by a "destructive" force that threatened "ethnic and religious diversity", in an apparent reference to the Islamic State group.

"What is important is that today there is an important decision, in light of the tumult afflicting the Arab world," he said.

Egypt had pushed for the creation of the rapid response force to fight militants, and the matter gained urgency this week after Saudi Arabia and Arab allies launched air strikes on Huthi rebels in Yemen.

A handout picture made available by the Egyptian presidency shows Egyptian

 President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (C) speaking during a closed session with Arab

 leaders during the Arab League summit in the Red Sea resort of Sharm 

El-Sheikh on March 28, 2015 (AFP Photo)

Arabi, reading a statement at the conclusion of the summit, said on Sunday the offensive would continue until the Huthis withdraw from regions they have overrun and surrender their weapons.

Several Arab states including Egypt are taking part in the military campaign, which Saudi King Salman said on Saturday would continue until the Yemeni people "enjoy security".

'Months to create'

Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi at the start of the summit called for the offensive to end only when the Huthis "surrender", calling the rebel leader an Iranian "puppet".

However, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the leaders to find a peaceful resolution in Yemen.

"It is my fervent hope that at this Arab League summit, leaders will lay down clear guidelines to peacefully resolve the crisis in Yemen," he said.

James Dorsey, a Middle East analyst with the Singapore-based S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said that despite support for a joint-Arab force, "it would still take months to create and then operate on an ad-hoc basis.

"I don't think we will get an integrated command anytime soon, as no Arab leader would cede control of any part of their army anytime soon," he said.

"Today we will have a formal declaration that would be negotiated every time during action."

Sisi said in a recent interview that the proposal for a joint force was welcomed especially by Jordan, which might take part alongside Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.

Saudi Brigadier General Ahmed Asiri, spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition

 forces, speaks to the media next to a replica of a Tornado fighter jet (AFP

Photo/Fayez Nureldine)

Aaron Reese, deputy research director at the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War, said "each of these countries would bring a different capability.

"The Jordanians are well known for their special forces capability... the Egyptians of course have the most manpower and bases close to Libya."

Before Egyptian air strikes in February targeting the IS in Libya, the United Arab Emirates, which shares Cairo's antipathy towards Islamists, had reportedly used Egyptian bases to launch its own air strikes there.

Cairo had sought UN backing for intervention in Libya, dismissing attempted peace talks between the rival governments in its violence-plagued North African neighbour as ineffective.

Asean peacekeeping force (JG Graphics/Josep Tri Ronggo)

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Johannes Nugroho: Why Is Malaysia Pushing for Closer ASEAN Defense Ties?

Jakarta Globe, Johannes Nugroho, Mar 10, 2015

(JG Graphics/Josep Tri Ronggo)

Ahead of the 9th ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting (ADMM) in Langkawi, Malaysia next weekend, Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammudin Hussein said last month that as chair, his country would push for the formation of an ASEAN peacekeeping force. The initiative, though not new, represents a step further in Malaysia’s attitude towards greater integration for ASEAN.

The peacekeeping force, if indeed established, will officially be designated for humanitarian operations in conflict zones and natural disaster sites. However, it will also be the first regional force through which member nations can work together in a defense framework. If successful, it has the potential to transform the nature of ASEAN member states’ engagement vis-à-vis China.

Malaysia’s sponsorship of the scheme during its chairmanship is important as, traditionally, Kuala Lumpur has preferred greater economic cooperation to defense with its ASEAN partners. In the past, Malaysia was also opposed to any ASEAN policy that could be interpreted as a “class action” against Chinese interests. Its caution was perhaps in line with the views of experts on South China Sea such as the Indonesian former top diplomat and academic Hasjim Djalal, who argued that the formation of an “ASEAN Unity” against China could be dangerously counterproductive.

So Malaysia’s past strategy was to deepen trade and economic ties with Beijing, thus increasing the stakes involved should a conflict develop. However, despite being China’s biggest trading partner within ASEAN, Malaysia was not immune to Beijing’s barrage of criticisms and rebukes after the MH370 incident. Clearly for Kuala Lumpur, the strategy was no longer working.

While abandoning lucrative trade with China would be a folly, Malaysia arguably now looks to the multilateral framework of ASEAN with new hopes. A regional peacekeeping force is far from being a defense pact like NATO but it will send out an unmistakable signal to Beijing that a united ASEAN response on security matters is plausible.

ASEAN countries with recent experiences of Chinese intransigence, such as Vietnam and the Philippines, will definitely welcome a more coherent ASEAN group response and the formation of a peacekeeping force. It is the other member states that will need to be convinced of the need of such a force.

Out of the seven remaining members of ASEAN, Indonesia’s acquiescence in the peacekeeping force will no doubt be crucial. As a founding member, as well as being the largest Southeast Asian economy, Indonesia’s participation, or lack of it, could either make or break the scheme.

Strategically, a multilateral security blanket like an ASEAN peacekeeping force coincides with Indonesia’s own interests. As a country prone to natural disasters, Indonesia could expect speedy relief aid from such a force. While, as the 2004 Aceh tsunami showed, the country can still rely upon humanitarian assistance from friendly neighbors like India and Australia, an ASEAN disaster relief task force in such a scenario makes more sense.

President Joko Widodo’s doctrine of maritime fulcrum could also be put into effect in tandem with such a regional force. Diplomatically, the country’s participation in the force may minimize concerns over excessive nationalism in Indonesia’s approach to border infringement. Indeed, the safety of the country’s maritime territory could be better served by cooperating with the regional force over issues such as illegal fishing. A general code of conduct over illegal fishing in ASEAN waters, for example, administered with the help of the regional force, could also keep skirmishes over the impounding of vessels between member states to a minimum.

However, despite the possible benefits, it remains to be seen whether Jakarta will support the idea of an ASEAN peacekeeping force. There are at least two indicators which may work against it.

First, since Jokowi took office last year, his foreign policy has been inward-looking. The current nationalist tone of Indonesia’s relations with the world may preclude such a regionalist move.

Second, there are signs that the current government will increase Indonesia’s economic engagement with China. With major infrastructure projects envisaged in the last election campaign, Beijing’s financial leverage may simply be too hard to resist. In the event of sizeable Chinese investments pouring into Indonesia, Jakarta may find its ability to support closer ASEAN defense ties compromised.

Malaysia’s championing of an ASEAN peacekeeping force is a marked departure from its previous policy on ASEAN cooperation. The strength of its determination to see it through, however, will be tested in the forthcoming ADMM. It will be interesting to see if Malaysia’s change of heart in its approach to ASEAN will be enough to persuade others to follow suit.

Johannes Nugroho is a writer from Surabaya. He can be contacted at johannes@nonacris.com.

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Dina Indrasafitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Thu, 05/19/2011

ASEAN must maintain its centrality in developing the ADMM Plus forum, which includes the ASEAN member states and other countries including Japan and the United States, Indonesian Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said Thursday at the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting in Jakarta.

The recent ASEAN Defense Senior Officials Meeting Plus (ADSOM Plus) in Yogyakarta, co-hosted by Indonesia and the US, as well as peacekeeping operations co-hosted by the Philippines and New Zealand, had determined five areas of defense cooperation, including antiterrorism, Purnomo said.

“One thing we must underline ... is that ASEAN's centrality must remain the working basis manifested through the increased performance of the ADMM," he said.

The ADMM forum, aside from stimulating interaction between defense communities and armed forces in the ASEAN multilateral context and regional context with partnering countries such as the US, is also a vehicle to boost bilateral cooperation, he said.

"The ADMM, from the first to the fifth, aside from being a series of meetings at a defense-minister level, have also included ... increasing interaction and meetings between admirals of armed forces. This positive development significantly improved transparency, trust and respect, which are very important to the strengthening of ASEAN defense cooperation in the future," he said.

During his speech, Purnomo congratulated Myanmar and Singapore on their “recent successful elections" and on Myanmar's new defense minister.

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www.chinaview.cn , 2009-02-26 23:02:49            

PATTAYA, Thailand, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- The third ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM) agreed on Thursday in Thailand to sign the joint declaration on strengthening ASEAN defence establishments to meet the challenges of non-traditional security threats. 

The third Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defence Ministers' Meeting or ADMM is organized in resort town Pattaya of Thailand's eastern province of Chonburi from Feb. 25 to27. 

The signing of the joint declaration has reaffirmed the ADMM's earlier commitment to enhance the regional peace and stability, and to contribute to the establishment of the ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC) by 2015, Thai Defence Minister and chair of the ADMM meeting General Prawit Wongsuwan said at a joint press conference. 

Three significant concept papers have been adopted in the joint declaration in a bid to strengthen the ASEAN defence establishments to meet non-traditional security challenges, said Gen. Prawit. 

The first concept paper is the use of the ASEAN Military Assets and Capacities in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) as this is aimed at accelerating the ASEAN militaries' operational effectiveness in the HADR, said the Thai Defence Minister. 

The second concept paper is about the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus), which is the principles preparing for an additional membership process, said Gen. Prawit. 

The last one is the concept paper on the ASEAN Defence Establishments and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) Cooperation on Non-Traditional Security, he said.    

This forum was a good beginning to move forward for the ASEAN defence ministers to cooperate with the ASEAN civil society to deal with non-traditional threats, ASEAN Secretariat Surin Pitsuwan said at the joint press conference.