Indonesian foreign policy can be considered by three different theories comprising of realism and idealism perspectives and Constructivism. It is believed that Indonesian foreign policy is more likely a constructivism based policy.
The Free and Active concepts of its foreign policy are still considered as the two main pillars of it. One of the examples is the activeness of Indonesia in helping Palestine to get its independence from Israel.
Moreover, Indonesia’s democratization has also transformed the country’s foreign policymaking process. Being no longer an exclusive executive affair, it has become more open, more pluralistic and less top-down than during Suharto’s New Order regime.
In the past, Indonesia had played a significant part in the formation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Asia’s oldest and most prestigious regional organization.
In 2019 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia shared details of Indonesia’s foreign policy direction and priorities for the next five years. Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi termed it as future road map to cope with emerging rivalry for political and economic influence. She added that the protectionist trend also posed new challenges for global trade.
She further projected the core strength of national economy of Indonesia comprising of a huge, growing domestic market indispensable in geo-economics in the future.
She announced that Indonesia’s foreign policy will be based on the following five priorities:
(a) Economic Diplomacy
Indonesian foreign minister Retno said her country would further strengthen its domestic economy and markets consequently use it as leverage to increase the country’s bargaining power. Thus it would be geo-economic centric and protect domestic market from the dumping of products subsidized by foreign entities.
Moreover, search of new potential markets in Africa, Latin America, Central Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and the Pacific for goods and services, investment and infrastructure development would be another priority of Indonesian foreign policy. Thus it would be new chapter of its commercial diplomacy.
In addition to this trade negotiations and investments would be further streamlined, systemized and counterproductive in the days to come. Indonesia will accelerate comprehensive economic partnership agreements, free-trade agreements and preferential trade agreements with various countries. To achieve this goal foreign ministry would also bolster trade and investment promotion and encourage outbound investment.
Foreign ministry will optimize its diplomatic efforts to protect Indonesia’s strategic economic interests, including palm oil exports. She termed Indonesia’s palm oil interests as fundamental, because they determine the fate of about 16 million people, particularly farmers and their families. Lastly, the ministry will continue to bolster Indonesia’s adoption of Industry 4.0, including the digital industry, creative economy and human resources development.
(b) Citizen Protection
Foreign minister of Indonesia Retno said her ministry would integrate Peduli WNI, an online portal for Indonesians living abroad, with the religious affairs ministry’s marriage management information system and the law and human rights ministry’s electronic citizenship administrative system. Thus it would be people’s centric.
In this context, it will further improve its governance to ensure safe, orderly and regular migration, and implement measures to protect Indonesian citizens abroad. She added that risk of human trafficking would be further reduced.
(c) National Sovereignty
She said the ministry would intensify efforts to settle border disputes through dialogue. “Indonesia’s sovereignty is non-negotiable. We will not back down one centimeter and always stand our ground,” she said.
(d) Regional and Global
Leadership
Holistic and comprehensive road map would be integrated to project the soft image of Indonesia at regional as well as international forums. In this connection, the foreign ministry would chalk out complete policy to further strengthen leadership role of the country in United Nations Security Council (already completed till 2020), the chairmanship of the global body in August next year (2021). The country has resumed serving on the UN Human Rights Council between (2020-2022) and chairing both the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the G-20 in 2022.
She termed “ASEAN as the pillar of Indonesia’s foreign policy. Indonesia would seek to ensure the implementation of the already adopted Asean Outlook on the Indo-Pacific over the next five years. Since Indonesia has rich expertise in conflict resolution thus she added that Indonesia wants to be a part of a solution and that it would therefore contribute to resolving various international issues, including in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, Afghanistan, Palestine and the South China Sea.
(e) Diplomacy Infrastructure
Foreign minister Retno said Indonesia must strengthen its diplomacy infrastructure to achieve its foreign policy priorities through initiating meaningful bureaucratic reform, improvement of human resources quality, development of physical diplomacy infrastructure, use of technology and information, and digital transformation.
Indonesian foreign policy is considered as a unique and rare policy. This is because the main focus of Indonesian foreign policy is free and active which falls in Realism Perspective (RP). Indonesian foreign policy can also be seen from Idealism Perspective (IP). Nevertheless, some of Indonesian foreign policy can be considered as foreign policy based on construtuvism. Indonesia plays an important role international arena, especially in non-traditional security issues such as environmental issue.
Foreign Policy under
Incumbent Government
Indonesian foreign policy direction under Jokowi’s administration people’s centric revolving around rigorous socio-economic development domestically and developing and consolidating bilateral relations through commercial diplomacy.
(a) Independent &
Active Foreign Policy
Foreign relations shall be conducted on the basis of the independent and active foreign policy and dedicated to the national interest, especially to supporting national development in all spheres of life, and for the purpose of establishing a world order based on freedom, lasting peace and social justice.
(b) Criteria of
International Relations
International relations should aim to strengthen international and regional friendly relations and cooperation through various multilateral and regional channels, in accordance with the national interest and potentials. In this regard, the positive image of Indonesia abroad should be enhanced such as by way of cultural activities.
In this context, the People’s Consultative Assembly outlines Indonesia’s foreign policy relation through Resolution No. II/MPR/1993 which is given below as:- © Showcasing of Indonesian Conflict Resolution Model
Indonesia’s role in settling international problems, particularly those threatening peace and contrary to justice and humanity shall be continued and intensified in the spirit of the Ten Principles of Bandung.
(d) Carful Observation of
International Developments &
Appropriate Steps
Any international developments and changes shall be watched carefully in order that appropriate steps can be promptly taken to protect national stability and development from any possible negative impact. At the same time, international developments that provide opportunities to assist and speed up national development should be seized and fully exploited.
(e) Intensified International Role
Indonesia’s international role in promoting and strengthening friendly relations and mutually-beneficial cooperation among nations should be intensified. The country’s effort to achieve national targets, such as the realization of the Archipelagic Principle and expansion of its export markets, should be continued.
(f) Meaningful Participation
in Regional & International
Forums
In order to help in the establishment of a New World Order, based on freedom, lasting peace and social justice, greater efforts should be made to strengthen solidarity and develop a common stand and cooperation among developing nations through various international organization, such as the United Nations, ASEAN, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Islamic Conference Organization, etc.
(g) Sincere Efforts of Forming
New World Economic Order
For the specific objective of building a new world economic order steps should be continued with other developing nations, to speed up the realization of an international agreement on commodities, to remove trade barriers and restrictions imposed by industrial countries on the exports of developing countries, and to broaden economic and technical cooperation among developing countries. Efforts to establish a new information and communication order should also be continued.
(h) Development & Projection
of ASEAN Public & Private
Sectors
Cooperation among the public and private sector of ASEAN member-countries should be intensified with a special emphasis on economic, social and cultural cooperation. This, in turn, would reinforce the national resilience of each member-country and the regional resilience of ASEAN, thus enhancing the common endeavor to build a South Asian Zone of peace, freedom, neutrality and prosperity. Furthermore, greater cooperation should be fostered among the countries of the South Asian and Southwest Pacific regions.
It seems that the current Indonesian foreign policy is strongly influenced by the vision and mission of the current Indonesian president, Joko Widodo (Jokowi). Under Joko Widodo’s administration, Indonesian foreign policy is mainly focused on polices based on Nawa Cita. Nawa Cita is a traditional Indonesian language which means nine agendas.
Indonesian foreign policy can be analyzed by three different theories although the basic theory which is really matched with Indonesian foreign policy since its independence is constructivism.
Its foreign policy is a policy designed serving the national interest while simultaneously allowing Indonesia to cooperate with other nations to abolish colonialism and imperialism in all their forms and manifestations for the sake of world peace and social justice. This explains why Indonesia was one of the founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement.
However, it seems that Indonesian foreign policy in practices and theories is basically influenced by its historical conditions and the world order at the moment of Indonesian independent and afterward. Before the Independence, Indonesian was a place of competition for Japan and Netherland. Thus, this impact on Indonesian views on its foreign policy.
Nevertheless, it seems that Indonesia’s approach to foreign affairs is derived from the principles articulated in 1948 by Mohammad Hatta, then vice president. It is influenced by a “desire to put political relations with other nations on a footing of mutual respect. The origins of the Independent and active foreign policy “Bebas dan Aktif policy” can be found in its Constitution of 1945 and its principles have served as the foundation of Indonesia’s foreign policy from Sukarno to the present day. Interestingly, Islam has never been adopted as an official framework in the country’s foreign policy nor has it served as the basis for the conduct of foreign relations.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s first term in office was criticised for lack of attention to and interest in foreign affairs, something that he himself has openly acknowledged. Thus now Indonesia needs an innovative foreign policy to mover forward.
There is an urgent need that Indonesia should follow a balanced and diversifed foreign policy to protect its country from emerging geopolitically sensitive projects and trends. A lack of creativity and strategic thinking may have lessened it regional position. More focused, active and assertive foreign policy is the need of the hour.
Indonesia foreign policy strategy should go beyond the traditional objective of confidence-building and conflict resolution. It should be more inclusive, open, transparent and productive. Indonesia should discourage any behaviour showing exclusivity and disrespect towards international law. It includes persuading other ASEAN countries to express disinterest towards related policies or projects embodying contradictory values.
Indonesia must further enhance its presence and cooperation with other ASEAN countries, not only through diplomatic presence, but also in economic, security, and people-to-people interactions. ASEAN centrality needs to be re-earned, not reclaimed
Indonesian journey from independence to domestic consolidation, politicization to democratization, socio-economic development to integration to multiculturalism, activation of regionalism to extra-regional and continental policy outreach, transformation from bilateralism to tri-lateralism, neutralism to rigorous participation and last but not least from geopolitics to geo-economic centric foreign policy all vividly reflect that its foreign policy has been people’s centric although many former presidents prioritized their own perennial lists.