Indonesian Democracy On Its Foreign Policy

As world’s largest islands country, Indonesia occupies the important maritimetransport routes between the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. So it has importantstrategic value in terms of geopolitics. Indonesia is the largest country in SoutheastAsia and has great influence in ASEAN’s development and Southeast Asia’s peaceand stable. If China wants to build a favorable climate in its periphery, developfriendly relationships with ASEAN countries, have good relations with the U.S.,Japan and India in Southeast Asia area, it has to pay attention to its bilateral relationswith Indonesia. So, studying Indonesia’s foreign policy especially its changingdecision-making mechanism and foreign policy contents during democratic reformhas important realistic meaning.Another reason to study Indonesia’s foreign policy is to deal with the adaptabilityof foreign policy theory. The theory of international relations stems from the West,western international relation theory occupies leading position till now. This is alsotrue in foreign policy theory. This thesis uses micro perspective of foreign policytheory as bases and points out that we can’t explain the changes of Indonesia’s foreignpolicy if we only use bureaucratic model or organizational process model throughstudying how domestic elements influence Indonesia’s foreign policy duringdemocratic reform period. We have to focus on the changes in the political system.Changing from authoritarian regime to democracy regime is the main reason ofIndonesia’s foreign policy change. At the same time, the world view formed in theprocess of Indonesia’s history also plays an important role.This thesis has seven chapters except the preface. It uses historical developmentas the main line, analyses the elements which influence Indonesia’s foreign policyduring democratic reform period through comparative politics, predicts Indonesia’sforeign policy orientation.The first chapter mainly gives a reference to democracy development and foreignpolicy theory. All the foreign policy theories can be divided into two kinds. One usesmacro perspective such as international system and international environment asindependent variable to analyze nation country’s general diplomatic strategy, the otheruses micro perspective and emphasizes the analysis of foreign policy making processand decision-making mechanism. Democracy’s influence on foreign policy belongs to the micro perspective. It influences nation state’s foreign policy decision-makingmechanism and foreign policy content. As to Indonesia’s foreign policy,“balance ofpower” or “balance of threat theory” can’t explain Indonesia’s current foreign policyperfectly. So, this thesis tries to analyze Indonesia’s foreign policy through thedemocracy and foreign policy theory.The second chapter reviews the background and content of post Suharto’sdemocratic reform.1997Asian Economic Crisis not only has a serious impact onIndonesia’s economy, it also triggers a series of social and political crisis. Peopleexpress their dissatisfaction publicly and demand social and economical reform.Suharto was forced to resign under the domestic and international pressure. Indonesiabegan its democratization process. The most important development is theamendment of the1945constitution. From1999to2002, Indonesia has amended theconstitution four times. Finally, the presidential system with bicameral system wasestablished. The constitution clearly stated the Check and Balance Principle, theparliament has more influence in foreign policy area. The military’s “dual function”was abolished and the restriction on political party was canceled, people can formpolitical party freely and can participated election if they match condition. Theconstitution also allows free speech and the development of civil society. Protectinghuman rights was also added to constitution.The third chapter analyzes democratization’s impact on Indonesia’s foreignpolicy decision-making mechanism from the perspective of state organs. This chapterhas three parts. Under the democratic regime, the president’s power is restricted bythe administrative and the parliament. In terms of obtaining information andimplementation of foreign policy, the president has to rely on Ministry of ForeignAffairs. In terms of national defense, the president has to consult Ministry of NationalDefense. The economic department has more right on international economic andfinancial matters. At the same time, the parliament has more impact on foreign policy.The Committee I of the People’s Representative Council handles external affairs adhoc, it has the right to intervene the appointment of representatives abroad and toapprove international treaty. Parliament is the main counterbalancing force toadministrative. Military’s “dual function” was abolished, they can’t undertake theposition of ambassador and can’t intervene national politics. The fourth chapter analyzes democratization’s impact on Indonesia’s foreignpolicy decision-making mechanism from the perspective of civil society. With thedemocratization process, Indonesia government called off the restrictions on civilsociety and allowed the freedom of speech and association. One characteristic ofIndonesia’s civil society is its Islamic nature and the political Islam has greatinfluence in Indonesia. Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah are the most influentialIslamic organization in Indonesia society. There are also some Muslims who influencegovernment’s foreign policy toward Islamic states through forming political party orterrorism. Of course,“tolerance” as moderate Muslim’s value is also reflected inIndonesia’s foreign policy.The fifth chapter discusses the challenges that Indonesia faces during thedemocratization process and how these challenges influence its foreign policy content.The democratic reform which begins in the economic crisis not only has to stabilizedomestic politics and society, but also has to take economic recovery anddevelopment as the main consideration in its foreign policy. Democratization hasincreased people’s awareness of human right and other things related to democracy, sopeople ask the government to enhance democracy and human right in its foreignpolicy content. Terrorism and other non-traditional security threat forced governmentto take care of the mood of domestic Muslims when enhancing internationalcooperation against terrorism. Indonesia can take this chance to be the bridge betweenwestern world and the Islamic world.The sixth chapter analyzes democratization’s impact on Indonesia’s worldviewand how this kind of worldview influences its foreign policy orientation. Fromindependence to Sukarno and Suharto’s authoritarian regime, the current democraticgovernment, Indonesia formed its special worldview which content is Pancasila, thevalue of independence, freedom and equality, big power state. Indonesia’s foreignpolicy destination evolves from protecting sovereignty and territorial security through“free and active” foreign policy to using diplomacy as vehicle to be the world’s bridgeand fight for the leadership of the world.The seventh chapter analyzes Indonesia’s foreign policy orientation based on theanalysis in the previous chapters. That is “multifaceted diplomacy.” ASEAN still willbe Indonesia’s cornerstone in carrying out foreign relations. Indonesia will go onpromoting ASEAN’s integration process and enhancing ASEAN’s democracy and human right. At the same time, Indonesia will actively improve bilateral andmultilateral relations to broaden its diplomatic arena. Putting democracy principle andcontent in its foreign policy has enhanced Indonesia’s international image. As thedevelopment of Indonesia’s democratization process, its foreign policydecision-making mechanism will be implemented and will go on its “multifaceteddiplomacy” with promoting democracy as a main content.