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View all search resultsUncertainty lingers over Indonesia’s foreign policy direction
Indonesia has entered 2026 with a clearer vision of its foreign policy following Foreign Minister Sugiono’s annual address, analysts say, but questions remain over how Jakarta plans to turn its stated ambitions for resilience into concrete policy.
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Diplomatic dispatch: Foreign Minister Sugiono delivers his 2026 annual press statement on Jan. 14 at the Foreign Ministry in Jakarta. (AFP/Bay Ismoyo)
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ndonesia has entered 2026 with a clearer vision of its foreign policy following Foreign Minister Sugiono’s annual address, analysts say, but questions remain over how Jakarta plans to turn its stated ambitions for resilience into concrete policy.
Critics note that persistent issues, including the lack of long-term strategy and a hesitation to speak out decisively when partners falter, remain unaddressed, underscoring the need for greater clarity beyond rhetorical statements.
“The address reflected an element of continuity within the Foreign Ministry, and is conceptually aligned with prevailing discourse on a fragmented, transactional world marked by weakening multilateralism. These are all correct entry points,” said Andrew Mantong, a senior international relations analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), during a panel discussion in Jakarta on Thursday.
“Still, identifying a problem does not in itself amount to a policy. [...] Our challenge, beyond maintaining conceptual continuity, lies in ensuring that these ideas translate into economic and security policies anchored in democratic values,” he continued.
In his hour-long addresses on Wednesday outlining Indonesia’s foreign policy posture for the year, Sugiono cast resilience as Jakarta’s guiding principle in a fractured global order, advocating a more “realist” strategy underpinned by defense and economic cooperation.
The speech emphasized Indonesia’s commitment to strategic autonomy in what the minister described as a “multiplex world order”, framing Jakarta’s flurry of high-level international engagements last year as an effort to diversify partnership and broaden cooperation amid a stalled multilateral system.
Read also: Indonesia makes turn toward defense diplomacy
