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Indonesia leads the G20 during the tumultuous year
As the G20 president, Indonesia could not remain silent when fellow developing countries in Africa and the Middle East struggled to provide staple foods for their people.
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Indonesian police stand in front of banners of the Group of 20 Summit near a venue for the G20 Finance Ministers Meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali, on July 14. (Reuters/Pool/Sonny Tumbelaka)
When Siswo Pramono left Jakarta to assume an ambassadorial post in Canberra, I was asked to temporarily oversee the Foreign Ministry’s think tank that he supervised for almost five years. I was delighted to find a much-transformed institution, one that had experienced many developments since my time in the late 1990s.
Principally, there had been a significant shift from a content analysis approach toward data-driven research, with greater reliance on statistics.
This paradigm shift is imbued by the growing recognition of the efficacy of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help analyze data as well as predict changes and trends.
Consequently, we see scores of young analysts with advanced familiarity with information technology prepare policy strategies and propose recommendations under the supervision of mid-career diplomats. The more senior diplomats and their expertise enrich the analyses with the notion of context in international relations.
As an old-school diplomat myself, I found their interactions fascinating. They were engaged in robust and vibrant dialogues on various global issues of interest, such as discrimination against Indonesian palm oil to concerns over growing assertiveness for the sphere of influence among major powers in the Indo-Pacific region.
The rank and file in the ministry’s think tank and I share a common understanding that reliance on statistics as part of the tools of analysis on international issues is timely. As we face constant changes and sporadic challenges, adaptation is a necessity.
Failure to adapt will impact competitiveness and, in the case of diplomacy, it would place a country in the backseat of the global market of diplomatic ideas and initiatives. Therefore, as a responsible member in the community of nations, Indonesia cannot afford to stay idle and not respond to global developments that pose challenges to our national interests.
