Indonesia as the next Asian giant?: How Indonesia’s international relations affect the country’s power status in an age of geopolitics

Indonesia has been regarded as a prospective candidate to great power status. However, because these propositions typically build on assessments from realist theory, they overemphasize a country’s material capabilities (e.g. territory, GDP, and size of population) while overlooking other relevant components of status formation. In analysing power status through the lens of identity and behavioural approaches, this thesis considers the role of a country’s international relations in status change, and assesses how Indonesia’s conduct in foreign affairs affects the country’s prospects of emergence. Considering that great powers are increasingly enacting geopolitical strategies it could be expected that, as a prospective ascendant, Indonesia would follow similar procedures. Yet, the country has not only refrained itself from adopting a realist stance, it has prioritised a hedging strategy based on multilateral cooperation with regional and major powers, one that uses ASEAN as the...Show moreIndonesia has been regarded as a prospective candidate to great power status. However, because these propositions typically build on assessments from realist theory, they overemphasize a country’s material capabilities (e.g. territory, GDP, and size of population) while overlooking other relevant components of status formation. In analysing power status through the lens of identity and behavioural approaches, this thesis considers the role of a country’s international relations in status change, and assesses how Indonesia’s conduct in foreign affairs affects the country’s prospects of emergence. Considering that great powers are increasingly enacting geopolitical strategies it could be expected that, as a prospective ascendant, Indonesia would follow similar procedures. Yet, the country has not only refrained itself from adopting a realist stance, it has prioritised a hedging strategy based on multilateral cooperation with regional and major powers, one that uses ASEAN as the primary vehicle for maintaining Southeast Asian security and stability. As this thesis identifies, Indonesia’s behaviour in international relations therefore does not depict any of the major motives that are expected to drive great powers to adopt realist procedures, namely: seeking greater status acquisition, and conforming to the pressure of global trends. Nevertheless, this does not necessarily imply that Indonesia is disinterested in upgrading its international ranking, nor that the country is unlikely to emerge. Rather, it poses the possibility that Indonesia may rise in ways considered atypical to Western interpretations, and achieve a hybrid power status position that incorporates elements of middle and great power states.Show less

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Indonesia as the next Asian giant? How Indonesia’s international relations affect the country’s power status in an age of geopolitics