Indonesia’s 2023 ASEAN Chairmanship: Challenges and Policies Taken
Abstract
Abstract. As Indonesia has recently completed its term in the chair position for 2023, a study is needed to determine the link between ASEAN's policy goals, agendas, and their outcomes as reflected by common communiques during Indonesia's chairmanship and Indonesian national policies and interests. Using a qualitative descriptive method, this study will examine two questions: firstly, how is Indonesia’s ASEAN chairmanship in 2023 influenced by its pre-existing national foreign policy doctrine, and secondly, how is it reflected in its policy outcomes as chairman of ASEAN? This study examines these questions in the lifht of the three main issues that ASEAN faced during Indonesia’s chairmanship in 2023: the conflict in Myanmar, the ASEAN bloc’s relations with China, Russia, and the US, particularly in the context of the South China Sea dispute and the war in Ukraine, and regional integration and inter-country connectivity within ASEAN. Finally, this study will examine how Indonesia has successfully utilized its ASEAN chairmanship to achieve its internal policies and amplify them to the regional and global stage.
Keywords: ASEAN, Foreign Policy, Regional Integration, South China Sea, Indonesia, national interests.
Abstrak. Mengingat Indonesia baru saja menyelesaikan masa jabatannya sebagai negara ketua ASEAN pada tahun 2023, diperlukan sebuah kajian untuk mengetahui kaitan antara tujuan kebijakan, agenda, dan hasil kebijakan ASEAN, sebagaimana tercermin dalam berbagai keputusan bersama yang dilakukan pada masa kepemimpinan Indonesia, dengan kebijakan dan kepentingan nasional Indonesia. Dengan menggunakan metode deskriptif kualitatif, penelitian ini akan mengkaji dua pertanyaan: pertama, bagaimana kepemimpinan Indonesia di ASEAN pada tahun 2023 dipengaruhi oleh doktrin kebijakan luar negeri nasional Indonesia yang sudah ada sebelumnya, dan kedua, bagaimana pengaruh tersebut tercermin dalam hasil kebijakan Indonesia sebagai ketua ASEAN? Kajian ini menguji pertanyaan-pertanyaan tersebut dalam lensa tiga permasalahan utama yang dihadapi ASEAN pada masa kepemimpinan Indonesia pada tahun 2023: konflik di Myanmar, hubungan blok ASEAN dengan Tiongkok, Rusia, dan Amerika Serikat, khususnya dalam konteks sengketa Laut Cina Selatan dan perang di Ukraina, dan integrasi dan konektivitas regional antarnegara ASEAN. Terakhir, studi ini akan mengkaji bagaimana Indonesia berhasil memanfaatkan masa kepemimpinannya di ASEAN untuk mensukseskan kebijakan internalnya dan menyuarakan kebijakan tersebut di tingkat regional dan global.
Kata Kunci: ASEAN, politik luar negeri, integrasi regional, Laut Cina Selatan, Indonesia, kepentingan nasional.
Keywords
References
Acharya, A. (1997). Ideas, Identity, and Institution‐building: From the “ASEAN Way” to the ‘Asia‐Pacific Way’?’. The Pacific Review, 10(3): 319–346.
AFP. (2023). Lavrov Lashed Out at Ukraine War Criticism at Jakarta Talks – EU Top Diplomat, The Moscow Times. 14 July 2023, available at https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/07/14/lavrov-lashed-out-at-ukraine-war-criticism-at-jakarta-talks-eu-top-diplomat-a81849
Alamsyah, I.E. (2023). Kemenlu RI Tanggapi Kapal China yang Melintasi Laut Natuna, Republika Online. 19 January 2023, available at https://news.republika.co.id/berita/roqqfb349/kemenlu-ri-tanggapi-kapal-china-yang-melintasi-laut-natuna
Anwar, D.F. (2022). Indonesia’s Hedging Plus Policy in the Face of China’s Rise and the US-China Rivalry in the Indo-Pacific Region. The Pacific Review, 36(2): 351–377.
Ariesta, M. (2023). Kapal Tiongkok Melintas di ZEE, Kemenlu RI: Sah-Sah Saja, Medcom. 19 January 2023, available at https://www.medcom.id/internasional/asean/4bax97JN-kapal-tiongkok-melintas-di-zee-kemenlu-ri-sah-sah-saja.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (2006). Handbook on Selected ASEAN Political Documents, Jakarta: The ASEAN Secretariat.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (2008). The ASEAN Charter, Jakarta: The ASEAN Secretariat.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (2023). The 56th AMM Joint Communique, Jakarta: ASEAN Secretariat.
Bank Indonesia (BI) (2022). The Implementation of Cross-border QR Payment Linkage, available at https://www.bi.go.id/en/publikasi/ruang-media/news-release/Pages/sp_2423222.aspx.
Caelli, Kate, Ray, Lynne, and Mill, Judy. (2003). Clear as Mud’: Toward Greater Clarity in Generic Qualitative Research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 2(2): 1–13.
Dipua, A. et al. (2021). Sea Defense Strategy the Indonesian Navy in Dealing with the South China Sea Conflict. Italienisch, 11(2): 120–126.
Dongxiao, C. (2014). China’s Host Diplomacy: Opportunities, Challenges and Undertakings. China International Studies, 12–31.
Forsyth, T. (2014). Public Concerns about Transboundary Haze: A Comparison of Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia. Global Environmental Change, 25: 76–86.
Haryanto, A. (2015). Prinsip Bebas Aktif dalam Kebijakan Luar Negeri Indonesia. Jurnal Ilmu Politik dan Komunikasi UNIKOM, 4(11): 17–27.
Heilmann, D. (2015). After Indonesia’s Ratification: The ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution and its Effectiveness as a Regional Environmental Governance Tool. Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, 34(3): 95–121.
Isjchwansyah, Y.R. (2022). Utusan Khusus ASEAN untuk Myanmar dari Indonesia: Tantangan dan Peluang. Jurnal Al Azhar Indonesia Seri Ilmu Sosial, 4(2): 91–99.
The Jakarta Post Editorial Board (2023). ASEAN Matters, but How Much?, The Jakarta Post. 11 May 2023, available at https://www.thejakartapost.com/opinion/2023/05/11/asean-matters-but-how-much.html.
Kim, M. (2011). Theorizing Asean Integration. Asian Perspective, 35(3): 407–435.
Kuik, C. (2016). How Do Weaker States Hedge? Unpacking ASEAN States’ Alignment Behavior Towards China. Journal of Contemporary China, 25(100): 500–514.
Kurus, B. (1995). The ASEAN TRIAD: Interest, Consensus seeking, and Economic Co operation. Contemporary Southeast Asia, 16(4): 404–420.
Mada, K. and Anwar, L.A. (2023). Permanenkan Utusan Khusus ASEAN untuk Myanmar, Kompas. 4 February 2023, available at https://www.kompas.id/baca/internasional/2023/02/04/permanenkan-utusan-khusus-asean-untuk-myanmar.
Mawardi, I. (2023). Kapal China Masuk Laut Natuna, TNI AL Kirim Kapal Perang, Detiknews. 14 January 2023, available at https://news.detik.com/internasional/d-6515772/kapal-china-masuk-laut-natuna-tni-al-kirim-kapal-perang.
Nischalke, T. (2002). Does ASEAN measure up? Post-Cold War Diplomacy and the Idea of Regional Community. The Pacific Review, 15(1): 89–117.
Pang, E. (2017). Same-Same but Different”: Laos and Cambodia’s Political Embrace of China. ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute Perspective, 66: 1–7.
Ranada, P. (2021). Philippines Refuses to ‘Interfere,’ Calls Myanmar Coup ‘Internal Matter. Rappler, 1 February 2023, available at https://www.rappler.com/world/asia-pacific/philippines-statement-myanmar-military-coup.
Rattanasevee, P. (2014). Leadership in ASEAN: The Role of Indonesia Reconsidered. Asian Journal of Political Science, 22(2): 113–127.
Reus-Smit, C. and Snidal, D. (2010). The Oxford Handbook of International Relations, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Riccardi, L. and Riccardi, G. (2020). ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, in Invest in ASEAN. Singapore: Springer, 241–255.
Sandelowski, M. (2000). Whatever Happened to Qualitative Description? Research in Nursing & Health, 23(4): 334–340.
Sato, K. (2013). The Rise of China’s Impact on ASEAN Conference Diplomacy: A Study of Conflict in the South China Sea. Journal of Contemporary East Asia Studies, 2(2): 95–110.
Septiari, D. (2021). ASEAN Voices Split over Myanmar Military Coup, The Jakarta Post. 1 February 2021, available at https://www.thejakartapost.com/seasia/2021/02/01/asean-voices-split-over-myanmar-military-coup.html
Strangio, S. (2021). Cambodian PM Nominates Top Diplomat as ASEAN Envoy on Myanmar, The Diplomat. 16 December 2021, available at https://thediplomat.com/2021/12/cambodian-pm-nominates-top-diplomat-as-asean-envoy-on-myanmar/.
Sullivan-Bolyai, Susan, Bova, Carol, and Harper, Doreen. (2005). Developing and refining interventions in persons with health disparities: The use of qualitative description. Nursing Outlook, 53(3): 127–133.
Suzuki, S. (2020). Can ASEAN Offer a Useful Model? Chairmanship in Decision-making by Consensus. The Pacific Review, 34(5): 697–723.
Swedberg, R. and Agevall, O. (2005) The Max Weber Dictionary: Key Words and Central Concepts, Stanford: Stanford Social Sciences.
Teresia, A. (2023). Jakarta sends warship, drone to monitor Chinese vessel in North Natuna Sea, The Sydney Morning Herald. 14 January 2023, available at https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/jakarta-sends-warship-drone-to-monitor-chinese-vessel-in-north-natuna-sea-20230114-p5ccjg.html.
Var, V. (2021). Cambodia’s South China Sea Policy: From ASEAN Aligned to Echoing Chinese Clientism in G. Houlden, N. Hong, and S. Romaniuk (eds) Security, Strategy, and Military Dynamics in the South China Sea: Cross-national Perspectives. Bristol: Bristol University Press: 193–214.
Wibowo, A. (2023). Proceeding International Seminar on Islamic Studies, in International Seminar on Islamic Studies. Medan: International Seminar on Islamic Studies: 563–569.
Zhen, L. (2023). China, US Role in Komodo Navy Drills was ‘Support for Indonesia’, not Each Other. South China Morning Post. 10 June 2023, available at https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3223583/china-and-us-presence-komodo-navy-exercise-showed-support-indonesia-not-each-other.
DOI: 10.15408/jisi.v5i1.39316
Copyright (c) 2024 Jonathan Siborutorop
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.