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ndonesia under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been exercising a relatively high-profile foreign policy over the last five years. It has no longer simply been a spectator in international forums, but has confidently played a role in shaping international institutions and processes. Indonesia'€™s active engagements have been appraised by other leaders in ASEAN, APEC and the G20.

Under Indonesian chairmanship in 2011, ASEAN laid a strong foundation for the ASEAN Community in 2015. Indonesia'€™s role as chair of APEC in 2013 proved the group could formulate concrete strategies to build the Asia Pacific as an engine of global growth. In the G20, Indonesia has demonstrated its contribution the formulation of strategies to promote strong, balanced and sustainable growth.

Whoever is elected president in July will have to sustain Indonesia'€™s leadership in the international arena. The new president should recognize the importance of Indonesia'€™s role in the global political and economic system.

There will be two high profile summits that the new president will have to attend shortly after his inauguration on Oct. 21, 2014. The first is the ASEAN Summit scheduled for Nov. 9-10 or 11-12 in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar. The second is the G20 Summit to be held on Nov. 15-16 in Brisbane, Australia.

For Indonesia, both ASEAN and the G20 are very important forums. The ASEAN Summit in Myanmar will determine a smooth launch of the ASEAN Community in 2015. The summit will finalize all necessary platforms prior to the realization of the ASEAN founding fathers'€™ long-standing dream. With not much time left, there are still many agenda items to wrap up.

Critics claim that ASEAN is a formal, rigid and elitist forum. ASEAN is identical to a community of state leaders, rather than a community of nations. However, there has recently been remarkable developments in the involvement of civil society organizations and business leaders in the ASEAN-sponsored activities. Yet, the social construction of the ASEAN Community lags behind the intergovernmental political structure.

The free movement of persons has been facilitated by leaders, yet its contribution to the formation of a true community is still questionable. The issue of migrant workers, for instance, remains an uphill challenge for the establishment of a mutually respectful community of values in the region.

ASEAN has also been criticized for its failure to carry out its initial core mandate of maintaining peace and security in Southeast Asia. One of the hardest challenges is how to define a stable and peaceful relationship between ASEAN and China. Despite promising developments in the economic relationship, the threat to security is obvious. China has been recently very provocative in securing its interests in the South China Sea, raising serious concerns among ASEAN leaders, but the position of ASEAN in collective action is unfortunately very weak vis-a-vis China.

ASEAN needs a regional leader who can help the region secure peace and security and Indonesia has always been deemed as '€œa big brother'€ who can take up the job. The Indonesian president has been traditionally associated with the responsibility to lead the region, albeit informally.

Hopes abound for Indonesia to elect a leader with a global vision that will contribute to the G20 process. The G20 is a high-profile global forum for leaders of the world'€™s major and emerging economies to set up a new global economic architecture. The forum is very strategic for Indonesia as it helps the emerging economy enhance its leverage in the eye of international society.

Since the 2010 Seoul Summit, the G20 has begun to play a new role as a steering committee whose responsibility covers a very broad agenda, including the promotion of development, decent jobs, energy and food security and climate change, in addition to its mandate to deal with economic crises. Indonesia has repeatedly claimed to voice the interests of developing countries and ensured the forum would deliver benefits for all nations.

The new Indonesian president should not only be a leader who speaks English fluently, but also recognize that globalization and interdependence constitute a reality in the contemporary world and that global action is necessary for maximizing benefits and minimizing costs. International institutions are now playing strategic roles in securing the interests of the regional and global community.

Indonesia has indeed proven it is an active player in the regional and global forums and must continue its respectable track record in the future. Indonesia is a member of more than 150 international institutions and has paid its membership fee annually.

Which presidential candidate has a clear and positive global vision? Many people perceive that Prabowo Subianto is a strong potential leader who could lead countries to play a greater role in international relations. However, he has not presented any vision about Indonesia'€™s position in international institutions.

Even though many are skeptical of Jokowi'€™s international leadership potential, he has demonstrated clearly his global vision in a recently published statement (The Jakarta Post, May 21, 2014). If elected, he will adopt middle power diplomacy to increase Indonesia'€™s global role through multilateral cooperation in the UN, World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the G20. In the G20, Indonesia will be committed to promoting a balanced and relevant cooperation.

Jokowi did not fail to put ASEAN as a priority in his stated vision. Under his leadership, he wants to consolidate leadership in ASEAN, strengthen ASEAN cooperation as well as regional architecture.

If Prabowo wins the election, he will need time to learn, reflect and formulate how Indonesia should place itself in international institutions. If Jokowi is elected, he must identify strategic means to achieve his global and regional visions. The decision of course will depend on the voters'€™ choice in the upcoming presidential elections.

The writer is a full-time lecturer in international relations at Parahyangan Catholic University, Bandung.