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ndonesia claimed key successes in its diplomacy throughout the year, with the development of regional architecture and the inclusion of the US and Russia in an ASEAN-led bloc as evidence.

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said Monday that 2010 had been a consolidation year for Indonesia in presenting its leadership role in the region and beyond.

“2010 has been particularly challenging because on the one hand you have evidence of movement of a collaboration toward a community within ASEAN and a wider regional architecture, but at the same time we are also seeing challenges, for example, more traditional security threats,” he told The Jakarta Post at his office.

“But all in all, Indonesia’s diplomacy has been able to navigate this reality in our region in a positive way.”

Marty also claimed Indonesia contributed to solutions to a protracted debate on regional architecture building among ASEAN members during the year.

“Prior to Indonesia’s renewed contribution to the subject matter, most of the discussions were simply for ASEAN to say ASEAN must be in the driving seat,” he said.

“But I think Indonesia manifested the debate in a more concrete way by proposing to enhance the East Asia Summit to include Russia and the US.”

Indonesia was aiming at maintaining a dynamic equilibrium through the new participation of Russia and the US, he said.

Marty said dynamic equilibrium suggested a state of predictability of a stable, inclusive and win-win relationship that was dynamic through time among the parties concerned.

“Indonesia through ASEAN in particular can play the role of creating that equilibrium, that is, interacting with one another,” he said.

In global issues such as democracy, terrorism and climate change, Indonesia, Marty said, had been able to turn seeming liabilities into assets.

He said that Indonesia, previously known as an autocrat-ruled, a victim of terrorism country suffering from environmental abuse, was now acknowledged as a champion of democracy, terrorist eradication and climate change issues.

While Indonesia’s role on the international stage was praised during the year, the government still lacked the capacity to deal with grass roots issues, an analyst says.

University of Indonesia international relations expert Syamsul Hadi said it was true that Indonesia was able to enhance ASEAN’s profile and create balance between two world powers in the region.

He said China had become more assertive and tried to influence ASEAN, while the US was looking for wider access to Southeast Asia, testing the bloc as a whole.

“Indonesia managed to remain in the middle [of the battle of influence between the US and China] because if we had favored one side, a healthy balance would have never resulted,” he told the Post.

However, he said, the government failed to do its job when dealing with issues such as migrant worker safety.

“The government tends to be reactive and reacts sporadically when it deals with the abuse or murder of migrant workers,” Syamsul said.

“The Foreign Ministry indeed is the spearhead, but it is not the only one responsible for such issues, as all parts of [President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s] administration are.”

Marty said the government made “a strong effort” to address issues such as protecting migrant workers.

University of Indonesia international relations expert Makmur Keliat said it was difficult to judge the success of Indonesia’s foreign relations throughout the year because of the absence of a foreign policy white paper.