T

he Indonesian government recently published a new defense white paper. As a general practice, it is an instrument of defense diplomacy for confidence building and conflict prevention among countries. The strategic document is an important reference for the regional defense policy community to understand the future direction of a country’s defense policy and military development.

In that sense, the new white paper highlights four key issues of Indonesia’s defense policymaking. First, given the growing importance of peace and stability at sea, it incorporates the notion of the country being a “global maritime fulcrum” (GMF) in defense planning. One interpretation of the strategic concept suggests that the GMF represents a national aspiration to redefine the country’s geopolitical role as both a “gateway” and a “gatekeeper” of the increasingly interconnected Indian and Pacific oceans.

While rebuilding its maritime culture and archipelagic connectivity, repositioning Indonesia’s strategic role ultimately entails the development of maritime defense with a focus on “green-water navy” capabilities.

Specifically, the new white paper puts an emphasis on improving the military’s maritime surveillance system through the acquisitions of sophisticated defense technologies such as over-the-horizon radar, unmanned naval platforms and satellite communications. The idea is to uphold national sovereignty and ensure navigational security on Indonesian seas and beyond.

Second, the 2016 white paper reflects Indonesia’s changing threat environment. Recent regional developments have showed the complex nexus of traditional and non-traditional security issues. While maritime boundaries are highly contested, issues such as illegal fishing, maritime piracy and shipping route vulnerabilities have overlapped with the growing demand for marine resources and energy. The latest collision between the Indonesian and Chinese coast guards within the waters of the Natuna Islands further demonstrates that a non-traditional security issue could put bilateral relationships and regional stability at great risk.

In that reflection, Indonesian military officers have mulled over the danger of “hybrid” threats or “proxy” wars to national security. However, the latest white paper offers little insight concerning the country’s defense strategy to anticipate a future scenario of hybrid warfare, involving combined operations of regular military forces and irregular forces such as militia and paramilitary units against external intrusions. Instead, defense policymakers incorporate a voluntary bela negara (defending the state) program aimed at nurturing nationalism and patriotism within the Indonesian population.

Third, despite a long list of threats, the newly published defense white paper assures the international community about Indonesia’s commitment to peace and stability. On the use of force, the current administration in Jakarta maintains an “active defense” strategy to deal with conventional military threats. Under the existing doctrine, it avoids initiating war or using military forces against other countries, but resolutely undertakes offensive self-defense operations to defeat any external aggression.

Nevertheless, changes in military doctrines, enduring regional suspicions and the growing supply-side of the global arms trade have spurred a rapid pace of regional defense modernization. According to the latest Military Balance, defense spending in Asia rose from US$322 billion in 2014 to $340 billion in 2015. Despite the worrying trends, the Indonesian government remains reluctant to undertake a robust military build-up. Instead, it relies on diplomacy as the country’s first line of defense.

Fourth, the 2016 defense white paper promotes “maritime diplomacy” to prevent future conflict at sea. The acquisition of new military technologies, such as “anti-access/area denial” capabilities and anti-ballistic missile defense systems, have the potential to alter the balance of military power in East Asia.

Moreover, recent tensions and unresolved disputes over the South China Sea have increasingly posed a significant challenge to maritime security and regional stability. If these destabilizing factors go unchecked, they could raise the risk of miscalculation and deterrence failure making regional conflict unnecessarily likely.

Despite all the regional complexities, the Indonesian government still views a non-confrontational approach as the most acceptable strategy to preserve international security. With a belief that none of the region’s countries could address evolving security problems alone, it forges cooperative relations among defense establishments in the region.

Hence, over the past decades, defense policymakers have built an extensive network of defense and military ties with many strategic partners, including China and the US.

In that context, Indonesia’s defense diplomacy serves two strategic agendas. On one level, it engages in ASEAN-centered multilateral mechanisms to help institutionalize the regional norms of behavior such as confidence building, cooperative security and peaceful conflict resolution.

The idea is to build amicable defense relationships with regional powers, while enmeshing their interactions into a norms-based security order. On another level, Indonesia relies on bilateral defense cooperation to support its military modernization with a focus on bolstering indigenous strategic industries.

This way, Indonesia’s defense diplomacy is instrumental for mitigating the risks of regional tensions and simultaneously maintaining its defensive ability against evolving challenges in the Indo-Pacific region.
_______________________________

The writer is a defense expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Jakarta. He is an alumnus of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Singapore.