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ASEAN still the cornerstone of Indonesia's foreign policy
Yet Indonesia’s efforts have also raised questions as to whether the country is turning its back on ASEAN and if it is, what the reasons for such a move might be.
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Illustration of ASEAN cooperation. (Shutterstock/File)
I
n recent days there has been a reemergence of the discourse regarding the direction of Indonesia’s foreign policy, following Jakarta’s enthusiastic chairmanship of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA).
That enthusiasm could be seen in Indonesia’s hosting of the inaugural IORA Leaders’ Summit as well as producing the IORA Concord. Indeed, Indonesia’s efforts to push the 21-nation-strong regional organization toward greater regionalism were applauded by many, not least by South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma and Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, respectively the upcoming and previous chairs of IORA.
Yet Indonesia’s efforts have also raised questions as to whether the country is turning its back on ASEAN and if it is, what the reasons for such a move might be. Writing in The Diplomat, Dedi Dinarto argued that Jakarta “sees a new opportunity in the Indian Ocean, an opportunity that a divided ASEAN can no longer present.”
He adds that ASEAN’s largest member “has appeared to lose interest in its position as the natural leader in the region” and that Jakarta’s enthusiasm for IORA indicates the country’s failure to lead ASEAN.
In the same current affairs magazine, David Willis agrees that President Jokowi has turned Indonesia away from its ASEAN leadership position, although he does caution against assuming that Jakarta has replaced its leadership ambitions in one regional organization for another.
The perceived state of crisis that ASEAN is in arguably alludes to the lack of progress with the ASEAN community, the continuing inability to resolve the South China Sea dispute, and recent reverses in the state of democracy and human rights in the region.
There are, however, a number of reasons that suggest ASEAN’s position as the cornerstone of Indonesia’s foreign policy is unlikely to be threatened by IORA, or any other regional organization for that matter, any time soon.
