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Old wine in new bottle: Foreign policy in 2019
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On diplomacy: Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi explains progress of Indonesia's foreign policies in a press statement at the Foreign Ministry office's Pancasila Building in Jakarta. (Antara/Puspa Perwitasari)
I
t seems Indonesia’s foreign policy buzzword of 2019 is “Indo-Pacific”. The term has re-entered the country’s foreign policy in the last two years and has been vehemently supported by Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi. After being cooked up for months within the ministry, Retno announced the Indo-Pacific concept at the ASEAN Summit in August 2018, and further explained her intention to elevate it into an ASEAN-led concept.
The rationale behind the support for an ASEAN-led Indo-Pacific concept stemmed from the array of Indo-Pacific strategies being offered by ASEAN’s external partners. The concern that this assortment of strategies would elude ASEAN altogether led to Jakarta taking on the initiative of building up its and/or ASEAN’s own Indo-Pacific concept. This move would avoid any possibility of ASEAN centrality on the Indo-Pacific to be dictated by any of its external partners.
In addition, 2019 marked the beginning of Indonesia’s fourth accession as one of the United Nations’ nonpermanent Security Council (UNSC) members. A prestigious international position, where Indonesia sought to commit to combatting terrorism, promotion of human rights, global peace and conflict resolution, to name a few areas. Months into its membership within the UNSC, progress was seen in Indonesia’s diplomacy in certain cases, especially on the issue of Palestine, UN peacekeeping operations, women’s rights and various armed conflicts. The diverse issues that have seen progress is certainly laudable, yet there seems to be a lack of originality and breakthrough in Indonesian foreign policy.
Under the principle of “free and active foreign policy”, contained within the 1999 law on international relations, Indonesia’s foreign policy is to be conducted creatively and in an anticipative manner, not habitually and reactively. However, Indonesia’s stance on the international stage in the past several years is anything but habitual and reactive.
Consider the issue of Palestine. For 70 plus years, Indonesia has been unwavering in its support for the Palestinian right for independence. Yet, the stance that Indonesia took against Israel’s occupation of Palestine has been repetitive. “Regret”, “deplore” and “condemn” seem to be the limit of Indonesia’s capability in opposing Israel. Indonesia has failed to progress with the dynamics of the Palestinian issue and Israel’s “charm offensive” has garnered new friends, such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Moreover, in the pursuit of self-determination and sovereignty, Indonesia appears only to be fixated on the Palestinian issue. The recent flare-up of the Kashmiri issue gained little to no attention by Indonesian foreign policy actors. The ministry only issued a brief press release that called for relevant parties to “exercise restraint” and “conduct necessary actions to reduce tension”. This suggests Indonesia lacks updated knowledge and seeks not to promote this issue internationally. It is completely unacceptable for Indonesia to continue on the path of ignorance to issues of international proportion, especially after voicing ambitious claims to promoting global peace as a UNSC nonpermanent member.
On top of that, renewed tensions between the two nuclear states in South Asia does not bode well to overall stability in the Indo-Pacific. Despite that, this factor may have not been taken into major consideration from a country trying to champion an ASEAN-led Indo-Pacific outlook.
