JAKARTA -The Royal Australian Navy supported Maritime and Strategic Studies Period (MSSP) was conducted at Seskoal again this year from 20 – 31 March.The MSSP is considered one of the most important areas of study on the Indonesian Command and Staff College course. Most senior Indonesian Naval Officers will remember Emeritus Professor Tsamenyi who presented the MSSP for many years. Professor Tsamenyi retired in 2014, his replacement, Professor Stuart Kaye has been instructing on the course since then. For many of the years Professor Tsamenyi instructed on the MSSP, he was assisted by Dr Chris Rahman. Dr Chris was back again this year, this is his 13th year of presenting the course.
Professor Stuart Kaye again presented the international law component of the course that took up the entire first week. The main areas of interest for the students of Dikreg 55 centred around the strategic importance of the rise of China and the importance of the South China Sea. Many of the students were concerned about what the China’s “Nine Dash Line” claim means for Indonesia and the region.
This year a heavy focus of the second week of the course was the importance of the Indonesian government policy of the “Maritime Fulcrum”. Dr Chris Rahman pointed out that the state of the relationships between countries in the South East Asian region has never been so uncertain. The five pillars of Indonesia’s Maritime Fulcrum will help to ensure the security of the region, in particular the fourth pillar. He said, “in line with the Australian and Indonesian government policy, all countries need to support the rules based international order and ensure that disputes are solved within these guidelines”.
Dr Rahman was very supportive of the current role Indonesia is playing in the region and was upbeat about the future role Indonesia can play. As the largest country geographically and economically, given the fact that Indonesia is the regions most successful democracy, Indonesia has a significant role to play both within ASEAN to support the rules based order.
CAPT McArthur, from Sea Power Centre Australia, joined Dr Rahman in delivering several lectures in the second week of the course. The main focus of CAPT McArthur’s presentations was the Australian Defence White Paper 2016 and Australian Maritime Doctrine. CAPT McArthur outlined the unique program under which the RAN Fleet will be transformed in the coming 10 years. CAPT McArthur said, “this new generation of ships and submarines will bring Australia cutting edge technology which will be deployed in support of maintaining peace and security in the region”.
Students of Dikreg 55 were very appreciative of the opportunity to discuss these very topical issues with international experts in the field.
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