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Defense policy under a new administration
The incoming administration must steer a careful path in today's era fraught with competition, power rivalries and diminishing resources, including by building the domestic defense industry toward self-sufficiency.
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Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto (right), accompanied by Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Agus Subiyanto (left) and National Police chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo, inspects military equipment on Feb. 28, 2024 at the TNI Headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta. (Antara/Bayu Pratama S)
T
he geopolitical reality of Indonesia has historically influenced a stance of prudence in its relations with its counterparts, at least since Soeharto’s New Order. From the moment the new Republic of Indonesia was proclaimed in 1945, an overwhelming concern has been the specter of separatism, not a trivial matter across a vast archipelago of several hundred different cultures and religions.
In the effort to overcome this inherent limitation, the government used communications.
The launch into orbit of the Palapa 1 satellite in July 1976 was not without controversy. “Foreign experts” complained that the extreme expense of sending up a satellite represented a diversion of funds from infrastructure, such as agriculture, public health and roads.
In fact, it was a clever and effective move by president Soeharto to strengthen persatuan dan kesatuan (unity and integrity) across a vast archipelago where the military, regional administrations and the educational network cannot easily exert political control, security or nationalist indoctrination.
Telecommunications was, and is today, the tool for strengthening unity and integrity. The immense expense was thus justified.
Telecommunications also meant that pirates, smugglers, illegal fishermen or any other adversary could be countered quickly, with appropriate force.
Bearing in mind that there is historical resentment of the “Java-centric” concentration of political, economic and cultural power on Indonesia’s most populous island becomes a principal justification for the immense effort and expense of erecting Nusantara, “Capital of the Archipelago”, in East Kalimantan, approximately in the geographic center of the republic. This also relates to the spirit of defense, as power will radiate from the nation’s capital.
