Indonesia “Active Free” Strategic Culture in Maintaining the “Balance of the Power” on the Southeast Asia Area

Abstract

The struggle for influence and power between west and east in the Southeast Asea Region needs to understand Indonesia's “Active Free” Strategic Culture as an indicator. Indonesia's neutrality in the regional political stage has been tested in the long history of ASEAN. Free and active strategic culture is a basic adaptive value that Indonesia has in understanding threats, the ability to respond to various interests and agreement not to interfere in the affairs of their respective countries. This study focuses on analyzing the free and active strategic culture in Indonesian defense diplomacy and analyzing how the Ministry of Defense uses the active and free strategic culture in strengthening Indonesia's defense diplomacy in the region of Southeast Asia. This research uses a qualitative method with a phenomenology approach. The results of the study show that officials at the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Defense Institute, and Indonesia Defence University related to a free and active strategic culture in strengthening Indonesia's defense diplomacy in the Southeast Asian region. The conclusion is that the Free Active strategic culture is still relevant as an instrument to adapt and strengthen Indonesia's defense diplomacy in the Southeast Asia region. Keywords : Strategic Culture, Free Active, Strategic, Diplomacy, ASEAN and Defense Diplomacy DOI: 10.7176/IAGS/81-04 Publication date: March 31 st 2020