After just a year at the helm, President Prabowo Subianto’s globe-trotting diplomacy has arguably raised Indonesia's international profile, although some analysts warn that the lack of a cohesive strategy risks undermining the impact of his efforts.

The stakes could not be higher for the burgeoning middle power to bolster its influence in a fractured world struggling to reconcile competing national interests and the commitment to multilateral institutions.

But few Indonesian presidents have traveled as extensively in their first year as Prabowo, who has made at least 35 trips to 24 countries while making several major diplomatic moves in the same timeframe. These include joining the BRICS group of emerging economies, widely perceived to be the geopolitical counterweight to the Global North-centered status quo, just three months into his presidency.

Moving Indonesia away from the passive pragmatism of his predecessor, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who went on seven international trips to 10 countries in his maiden year, Prabowo has projected presence and confidence through his fiery speeches at various global forums, including at the United Nations General Assembly in September.

Guided by his “good neighbor” policy, which aims to widen transnational partnerships with as many countries as possible while offending none, Prabowo has engaged with many major world leaders at a level rarely seen in Indonesia over the past decade.

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