UNDERSTANDING INDONESIA’S APPROACH TOWARDS INDO-PACIFIC DISCOURSE

This chapter aims to understand Indonesia’s approach towards the Indo-Pacific. It argues that Indonesia’s approach towards the Indo-Pacific must be understood as the continuation of Indonesia’s approach towards the anticipated increasing geopolitical tension in Southeast Asia and beyond. The core idea is that Indonesia must be proactively shaping the regional dynamics, rather than encouraging global and extra-regional dynamics, marked by increasing great power rivalry, jeopardising regional peace and stability upon which Indonesia’s economic development is built. To implement this, ASEAN is the preferred platform. Despite the variations in channels, names, or specific policies, Indonesia’s initiatives to shape the regional order can be understood as advancing normative and institutional visions for the emerging region. In the normative vision, the Indo-Pacific is envisioned as an inclusive region and a region of cooperation and dialogue, in which countries - big and small - have sovereign equality, prefer peaceful settlement of disputes, and are continuously involved in trust-building despite their rivalries. In the institutional vision, ASEAN centrality is seen as the most effective framework to manage cooperation and conflict not only in Southeast Asia but also in the Indo-Pacific.