The Middle Way of Military Politics

August 19, 2025 | 04:09 pm

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Nasution’s ‘middle way’ was the origin of the military’s dual function. Now it has become a political tool of the government.

OF all the members of the military elite in the early days of independence, Abdul Haris Nasution was the key figure in shaping the military’s role in Indonesian politics. He was a founding father of guerrilla warfare. According to his doctrine, civilians and the military should fight side by side, with no separation between them. And it was this doctrine that was the starting point for Nasution to produce the ‘middle way’ concept in 1958.

The idea did not emerge out of thin air. The collapse of parliamentary democracy was one factor that led Nasution to redefine civil-military relations. Political instability as a result of frequent changes of cabinet prompted him to reconsider: the military should not only be an element of defense and security, but should also become a balancing force.

For Nasution, the military must not dominate politics, let alone seize power and launch an open coup, but neither should it be a passive instrument of the civil authorities. The key is political stability. Therefore, he positioned the military between the forces of defense, security, and social politics. The army, in Nasution’s thinking, should play an active role in helping civilians to develop the economy.

The concept of the middle way emerged after Nasution restructured the Army. As its top commander, he wanted the military to become a professional organization by sending officers to study overseas. In the early days, Nasution spent more time on internal consolidation. He did not see himself as a tool of the government. But he did not want the military to be isolated from politics.

It is not surprising that Harold Crouch, in The Army and Politics in Indonesia, wrote that Nasution was more than simply a soldier. He was also an organizer and a thinker. He influenced Indonesian politics in the establishment of doctrines and organizations and the involvement of the military as a balancing force between the political parties, the Sukarno government, and the armed forces.

But 80 years after this republic became independent, the concept of the middle way, which opened the way for the military to become involved in civilian affairs, has become a problem. Now, militarism is once again gaining in strength and becoming a tool of the political regime in power.

History records that the military gained more freedom to participate in politics and business after Nasution came up with his middle way concept. Since the Guided Democracy era, the military has been involved in the government bureaucracy, has played a role in determining policy and has influenced political and security stability. One example of its determining of foreign policy was during Indonesia’s confrontation with Malaysia. The army turned into a balancing force for the political parties, especially the Indonesian Communist Party.

According to Herbert Feith, this is also what encouraged the Army to intervene to prevent Dutch assets from being taken over by ‘leftist workers’ affiliated with the Indonesian Communist Party. With the support of President Sukarno, Nasution led the nationalization of Dutch companies. Active soldiers who did not have positions within the military began to occupy strategic jobs in these companies. And of course, these jobs came with many more ‘financial opportunities’ than posts in the military.

Nasution came to regret this. He lamented the fact that nationalization became a way for the military to become involved in business. And his regrets grew after he learned that Ibnu Sutowo, who had served under him in the Army, was involved in corruption at state oil company Pertamina. In the hands of Suharto, this middle way turned into the dual-function, one of the pillars of the New Order regime for three decades.

After fading away following the 1998 Reformasi movement, militarism resurfaced 27 years later. President Prabowo Subianto deployed troops to work on a number of projects, from the food estates to management of forest areas and assisting with the Red-and-White cooperatives. Like in the New Order era, a number of active military personnel occupy civilian positions in ministries and state-owned companies. The domination of the military weakens civil supremacy, one of the prerequisites for democracy.

In his memoir, Nasution warned that the military must become an instrument of the state, not of the ruler. Now the military has become a political tool of the government. His idea has been distorted by his own juniors.

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