During his first term, the US adopted a more isolationist stance, withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, the United Nations Human Rights Council and the World Health Organization. The US also equally diminished the region’s hopes for stronger trade and diplomatic relations by cancelling the Trans-Pacific Partnership and skipping the ASEAN-related meetings beyond the Manila Summit in 2017.  

While it remains uncertain how Trump will steer his second-term administration, the unhealthy geopolitical and geoeconomic ambitions of recent years have damaged global stability and eroded hard-won milestones.

The cost has been too high. Victims of humanitarian crises in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and elsewhere are left helpless. Measures to combat global challenges such as technological advancement, climate change and health emergencies are hindered by rising protectionist trade measures and industrial policies.

Meanwhile, many least developed economies are struggling to service unmanageable sovereign debt. These are symptoms of a greater danger and it could threaten Indonesia’s aspiration to become a high-income country by 2045.  

The world must revive the habit of dialogue and reinforce inclusive principles. Although dialogue may not resolve all issues or satisfy all parties, it fosters mutual understanding and provides a platform for the stocktaking of ideas.

It is the inclusive approach that led Indonesia’s founding fathers to coorganizing the Asian-African Conference in 1955, a movement that consolidated ideas of independence and opposition to colonialism.