JAKARTA (TOP) - The President of the Republic and 1996 Nobel Peace Laureate, José Ramos-Horta shared his views with academics at the ERIA School of Government Leadership on the future of ASEAN.
ERIA is an international organisation headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia. It was established by the leaders of 16 countries at the 3rd East Asia Summit in 2007 to support regional economic integration, reduce development gaps, and promote sustainable economic growth in ASEAN and East Asia.
The Lecture Series at the ERIA School of Government Leadership serves as the primary platform for distinguished leaders to share insights, experiences, and perspectives on governance, leadership, and regional cooperation. The series was inaugurated by former Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, with the aim of preserving ASEAN’s institutional memory and fostering regional learning through engagement with esteemed thought leaders.
Therefore, ERIA School of Government Leadership invites the President of the Republic and 1996 Nobel Peace Laureate, José Ramos-Horta to deliver a lecture focused on “Leadership in Perilous Times: Human Rights, Nation Building, and Regional Diplomacy” to advance leadership, cooperation and governance in the region. Southeast Asia.
ERIA School of Government Leadership considers President Ramos-Horta's lecture to be a valuable resource for policymakers, scholars, and emerging leaders throughout the region.
The Leadership Lecture aims to provide a high-level platform for in-depth discussions on governance, leadership, and regional cooperation in Southeast Asia.
This leadership lecture offers reflections on leadership, nation-building, and diplomacy in the face of heightened global uncertainty.
As a 1996 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and a key figure in Timor-Leste's struggle for independence, President Ramos-Horta shared his experiences on how reconciliation, dialogue, and trust can form the foundation for sustainable peace and cooperation.
In his speech, Dean and Managing Director of ERIA School of Government Leadership, Nobuhiro Aizawa, affirmed that Timor-Leste's experience offers important lessons on how leadership can transform conflict into cooperation.
"Timor-Leste is a living example of how peace and reconciliation can transform a history of conflict into a future of cooperation. Reconciliation and friendship between Timor-Leste and Indonesia are important foundations for the stability we enjoy in Southeast Asia today. This experience makes us optimistic about Timor-Leste's accession to ASEAN," Aizawa said.
He believes that the experiences of leaders who faced historical challenges themselves should be passed on to the next generation.
"There are many valuable leadership experiences in Southeast Asia that have not been studied in depth. At the ERIA School of Government, we believe that experiences like President Ramos-Horta's need to be shared because they provide important lessons for policymakers, practitioners, and academics," he added.
ERIA President Tetsuya Watanabe said that leadership lessons cannot be learned only from books or classrooms, but also from those who have experienced significant events and helped shape history.
"The next generation of leaders needs to learn not only from books, policy documents, and classrooms, but also from those who have experienced great challenges and change with their own experience. President Ramos-Horta's experience in building peace, promoting diplomacy, and strengthening regional cooperation provides lessons that are very relevant to us today," he said.
In this dialogue session, President Ramos-Horta invited participants to trace Timor-Leste's journey from conflict to independence, and the long process of building peaceful relations and trust with its neighbors. Drawing on more than three decades of experience in diplomacy, he emphasized that reconciliation is not a spontaneous process.
It takes courage to leave past hurts behind, patience to rebuild trust, and commitment to look forward.
“True regional stability is not just about the absence of conflict, but about a concerted effort to transform former adversaries into partners who can work together for a better future,” said President Horta.
Speaking about the relationship between Timor-Leste and Indonesia, President Ramos-Horta called the reconciliation between the two countries as one of the most important peace stories in Southeast Asia.
The 1996 Nobel Peace Laureate recalled the role of several Indonesian figures, including B.J. Habibie, Abdurrahman Wahid, and Megawati Soekarnoputri, who helped pave the way for Timor-Leste's transition to independence.
