TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Chernobyl spelled disaster for Soeharto, but Ukraine poses opportunity for Jokowi

The President is on a far different geopolitical and personal footing than his predecessor, whose personal ambition was dashed by the Chernobyl disaster ahead of an international event in 1986.

Kornelius Purba (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Thu, July 7, 2022

Share This Article

Change Size

Chernobyl spelled disaster for Soeharto, but Ukraine poses opportunity for Jokowi President Joko Widodo (left) meets with United States President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) on Nov. 1, 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Presidential Bureau for the Media/Laily Rachev)
G20 Indonesia 2022

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo should feel relieved because all foreign ministers of the forum have confirmed their attendance, including United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The ministers normally issue a joint statement at the end of the Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (FMM) in Bali, but as it would be impossible for them to reach common ground, especially on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the host is likely to issue a chairman’s statement instead.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi is slated to open the two-day G20 FMM today,

Compared to the country’s second president Soeharto, the incumbent is under much less pressure from big powers like the United States, though the G20 Bali Summit seemed to be in jeopardy after President Joe Biden and US allies threatened to boycott the November event if Russian President Vladimir Putin attended.

Jokowi defied the pressure, however, and extended an invitation to Putin while also inviting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a guest to the summit.

Biden can act and talk as if the US were a lone superpower and could dictate to other nations. But amid the rise of China and Russia, the US can still talk loud but its real power has been steadily diminishing. Washington’s declining hegemony was apparent to some extent when US allies called against boycotting the G20 summit after Jokowi’s attendance at the recent Group of Seven summit in Germany.

Viewpoint

Every Thursday

Whether you're looking to broaden your horizons or stay informed on the latest developments, "Viewpoint" is the perfect source for anyone seeking to engage with the issues that matter most.

By registering, you agree with The Jakarta Post's

Thank You

for signing up our newsletter!

Please check your email for your newsletter subscription.

View More Newsletter

In fact, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has dealt a big blow to Jokowi’s optimism for hosting a successful G20 summit. But he does not feel obliged to impress the US because the world’s landscape today has changed drastically compared to four decades ago.

Back in 1986, president Soeharto was poised to impress the most powerful man on earth, US president Ronald Reagan. Soeharto expected the international media to cover Reagan’s visit to Bali for a meeting with ASEAN foreign ministers, and that the event would be the perfect chance for him to show to the world he was different from then-Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos, a long-serving dictator like him.

Marcos had fallen from grace and fled his country after the People Power demonstrations in February that year. He was succeeded by Corazon Aquino, the widow of opposition leader Benigno Aquino who was assassinated by a Marcos loyalist at Manila airport on Aug. 21, 1983.

Soeharto’s bid to demonstrate his ASEAN leadership to the world fell by the wayside, however, amid the international media spotlight on the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine, which was then part of the Soviet Union. The plant exploded on April 26, 1986, just three days before Reagan landed in Bali for his unofficial visit to Indonesia.

The Chernobyl disaster, which turned out to be the worst nuclear accident in history, dealt a devastating blow to Soeharto’s personal ambition. His carefully choreographed summit with Reagan lost its opportunity.

But Reagan gave a consolation gift to his host in Bali, where he announced the appointment of senior diplomat Paul Wolfowitz as the US ambassador to Indonesia.

Wolfowitz would later become the most popular US ambassador to the country, his popularity persisting even until today, although he “planted” a time bomb for Soeharto. In his farewell speech in 1989, when his ambassadorial posting ended, Wolfowitz shocked Soeharto with his call for more “openness” in Indonesia.

Today’s geopolitical landscape has changed a lot, with no single hegemon defining the world order.

Hopefully, Minister Retno will be able to lead the G20 FMM smoothly, considering that the G7 members could fiercely deplore Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and Russia might walk out of the meeting in response. Although unlikely, other delegations could also abandon the meeting because the Western bloc’s criticisms might be too harsh to swallow.

Hopefully, such a chaotic turn of events will not happen.

One of the most important outcomes of Jokowi’s trip to Europe – to attend the G7 summit and to visit Kyiv and Moscow – is the readiness of all G20 members to attend the Bali summit in November.

Meanwhile, this week’s FMM will lay the foundation for the leaders’ gathering.

President Jokowi chose three priority issues during Indonesia’s G20 presidency: global health architecture, sustainable energy transition and digital transformation. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine changed the equation.

Jokowi now realizes that the most important thing is to save the summit, and seems prepared to tone down his guarded optimism. Perhaps he is even ready to set aside his ambitious targets in order to leave a noble legacy for Indonesia as the holder of the G20 presidency.

"The global situation is indeed very difficult. We need cooperation to realize our commitment to peace and humanity. The world is waiting for the G20 leaders to show their leadership for peace, humanity and prosperity," Retno said recently.

But Jokowi does not have to impress Biden, because the other G20 leaders also do not expect much from the White House.

He would do better to pin his hopes on Retno to successfully chair the two-day FMM. “Successfully” in this case means zero disruption, though the meeting may not result in any significant achievements.

***

The writer is a senior editor at The Jakarta Post.

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.