Reforming Indonesias foreign ministry: ideas, organization and leadership

More than a decade after Indonesias democratic transition, the effects of domestic politics on the conduct of Indonesias foreign policy continue to attract scholarly attention. Relatively less attention, however, has been given to the foreign ministry, the principal institutional actor responsible for foreign policy formulation and management of Indonesias external relations. This article argues that this neglect is a mistake: institutional changes within the foreign ministry, together with the emergence of new ideas, have played a key role in transforming the countrys foreign policy. It was principally within the foreign ministry that significant attempts were made to change Indonesias national self-image so that it better reflected the values of the reformasi experience. This article explores how democratic norms have been internalized in both the organization of the foreign policy bureaucracy and in the conceptualization of Indonesias external identity

The Intermestic Dimensions of Indonesia's China Policy

Robert Putnamâ's two-level game theory, which demonstrated how governments' requirement to satisfy both domestic constituencies and international actors imposed constraints on foreign policy behaviour, has particular salience in the case of Indonesia-China relations. Despite the two countries' growing economic convergence and the significant expansion in bilateral engagement over the past two decades, relations have remained constrained by a "persistent ambiguity" on Indonesia's part. During the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial elections, the opposition coalition which mobilised against ethnic Chinese incumbent, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok), was successful in invoking a Suharto-era narrative based on the triangular threat posed by Indonesian communism, mainland China and the ethnic Chinese minority. With its roots in Indonesia's political history, characterised by a deep enmity towards Beijing and its support for communist subversion in Southeast Asia, opponents of Ahok successfully exploited the racism resident in hardline Islamic circles and in negative public perceptions about both China and Indonesia's ethnic Chinese community. This paper examines how the rise of identity politics in Indonesia, spurred by an alliance between hardline Islamic forces with an increasingly illiberal and destabilising party political opposition, has seen the re-emergence of old tropes about an amorphous Chinese threat. By exploring the intermestic dimensions of Indonesia-China relations it demonstrates how uncertainty about Beijing's economic and political predominance in Southeast Asia is conflating with lingering resentment toward Indonesia's ethnic Chinese minority with implications for Indonesia's China policy

Jokowi's visit heralds new optimism for bilateral trade

After worrying delays, Indonesian President Widodo has finally met with Prime Minister Turnbull in Sydney. In spite of the countries’ past animosities, Australia-Indonesia trade cooperation may now finally live up to its potential