People generally only think about diplomacy in relation to foreign policy. However, external issues cover a vast range of topics in the field of international relations, such as national defense, maritime and territorial security, political economy, strategy and so forth.
Among those sub-disciplines stands the controversial one: geopolitics. The history of geopolitics after World War I has proven its tendency to easily become a science of the remodeling of states rather than a discipline for understanding the world.
However, since 9/11 geopolitics has reappeared as a comprehensive tool for understanding world politics. Geopolitics refers to the study of political relations between three types of power (states, intra-states - e.g. separatist movements, and trans-states - terrorist networks and multinational companies) in relation to geographical factors (physical geography, identity geography and the geography of resources).
A geopolitical approach would then be characterized by three dimensions, which are respectively, the centrality of the state as an "actor of power", plural-causality (nothing is merely religious, ideological, economical or political) and cultural (the importance of the culture as a determinant of history).
Speaking of Indonesia's geopolitics, first we may notice that it is an archipelagic state. The sea, which serves not only as a connection, but also a separator, represents a major asset. Therefore, why not conceive and develop our country as a maritime power?
Second, Indonesia is a centered state, which by definition exerts pressure toward distant peripheries (a will that is indeed temporized by the laws of decentralization).
Third, it consists of diverse ethnic and religion groups with formidable demographic power.
Lastly, the factor of resources - mainly oil - but also water, coal and so forth. If we simply have a systematic vision of Indonesia's geopolitics, we might just underline the fractures. Yet, there are many factors that lead to unity.
Indonesia is a nation resulting from a strong nationalist culture, where different peoples gathered around a center in an effort to struggle against Dutch imperialism as well as American and communist "globalism". The diversity of the population brought about a non-religious concept of politics, even though Jakarta has used "extremists" to reduce separatist movements. This singularity - a state that is neither secular nor religious - did not occur because of the religious diversity of the country, but as a result of the confluence between Islam and local culture.
Regarding the current international situation, a geopolitical analysis will identify four zones at the heart of world politics: The United States, the Middle East, India and predominantly China. In fact, since 1990 there has been a kind of bipolarization of international relations between the US and China. However, during the Cold War, geopolitical bipolarity coincided with ideological bipolarity.
After 9/11 it was neither terrorism nor "rogue states" that jeopardized the hierarchy of powers, but a rising China. Obviously, the "War on Terror" was necessary, but the United States also used the issue of terrorism in order to maintain both supremacy and influence of peripheral zones and to subsequently try to contain China, its real geopolitical contestant.
We now understand why the Obama administration and its Chinese counterpart recently pledged closer cooperation on global issues such as Iran's nuclear program and the world's financial crisis. We have to keep in mind that China is the world's largest holder of US Treasury securities and is therefore concerned about the safety of its investments.
As a matter of fact, Indonesia will be confronted with challenges that come from the duel between the United States and China. A French professor of geopolitics, Aymeric Chauprade, declared in 2007 that Indonesia could be one of the great powers, along with Russia and India, which could bring about balance in the world and prevent a US-China bipolarization.
He added that Indonesia has all assets to develop a great policy of equilibrium in the international scene. For that simple reason: tomorrow's stability will highly depend on the relation between the West, Islam and China. Indonesia knows well every part of these "worlds", not only because of its geographic location, but due to its identity and its foreign policy. Back in Sukarno's era, top senior army officers had already identified Indonesia as a crossroad. Indeed, it is a crossroad of culture, people and religion. And definitely the characteristic of an intersection is unavoidable.
In the next few months, newly re-elected President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will announce his Cabinet and particularly his new Foreign Minister. It is about time that Indonesia construct and conduct a foreign policy of equilibrium. Using a geopolitical approach to understanding the willpower of states, with the purpose of serving the country's best interests, is essential. May the President and his Cabinet proceed this way.
The writer works as assistant researcher at the Acad*mie Internationale de G*opolitique, Paris, France.
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