polri.go.idThe date of Sept. 2, 1948 is perceived as the origin of Indonesia’s foreign policy principle bebas dan aktif (independent and active). It was coined in the speech of then-vice president Mohammad Hatta before a heated meeting of the Central National Committee of Indonesia (KNIP), underlining newly independent Indonesia’s choice of being neither pro-Soviet nor pro-America in the bipolar world.In the pursuit of national ideals, Hatta contended, “The government is of the opinion that the position to be taken is that Indonesia should not be a passive party in the arena of international politics but that it should be an active agent entitled to determine its own standpoint with the right to fight for its own goal.” Indonesian foreign policy was not only influenced by the bipolarity that led to the rise of a Cold War system. Its independent and active international outlook wa...