Moving Forward

To overcome the above difficulties and achieve the goal of “global maritime nexus”, it is very dependent on the ability of Indonesia to credibly provide security to the sea choke points in or close to her territory (Malacca, Sunda, and Lombok); also the success of Indonesia norm building and institutions in the Pacific and Indian Ocean.

Indonesia aims to strengthen her maritime capability, especially in securing major choke points. This is shown by Indonesia efforts to build naval base in Island of Nias that overlooking Indian Ocean. Indonesia had also established a 2014 Multilateral Naval Exercise, a joint exercise with ASEAN plus countries with focus on capacity building and strengthening relations with other Navies. By concluding maritime boundaries dispute with many countries such as the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, and Australia, Indonesia has also been trying to lead by example that talk and negotiation is possible way to resolve border disputes. In term of norm building, Indonesia seeks to promote all-inclusive approach that seeks to include both littoral and non-littoral states within one umbrella with wide cooperation platform such as sustainable fisheries and mineral resources, and developing defense cooperation with major powers in the region.

Currently, the norm-building agenda that Indonesia seeks to promote is Indo-Pacific Treaty of Friendships and Cooperation (TFC), which would be promoted during her chairmanship in Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) next year. TFC accords with the spirit of ASEAN’s Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC), with higher sights and aimed at stabilizing regional security in the Asia-Pacific level so that regional institutions can be strengthened. The TFC will be a continuation of the Bali Principles in the East Asia Summit with objectives of addressing the deficit of trust in the region, developing a code of conduct when dealing with conflicts in the region and building regional resilience to cope with changes. Although TFC is not yet an established concept or legal commitment, Indonesia has been consulting the treaty to many stakeholders and actively endorsing it to many countries. The success of bringing all parties together, building norms, and developing organization in the Pacific and Indian Ocean would boost Indonesia position in many aspects including as maritime power. Indonesia 2015 chairmanship of IORA would provide good opportunity to promote this vision.

With increasingly interconnected Pacific and Indian Ocean, Indonesia as the country in the middle is exposed with risks and opportunities. With rich history of engagement and relatively no significant pattern of enmity with other countries, Indonesia has very spacious room to maneuver in promoting peace in the region. However, to achieve this vision, Jokowi as the new president needs to actively find balance between his domestic focus with Indonesia’s international aspirations.

Emirza Adi Syailendra is a Research Analyst at the Indonesia Programme of the S. Rajaratnam of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.