Indonesia’s Foreign and Maritime Policies Under Joko Widodo: Domestic and External Determinants

Abstract

This special issue aims to explain Indonesia’s maritime and foreign policies, under President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo, by looking at the intersection between domestic politics and systemic pressure. The extent to which domestic politics shape Indonesia’s foreign policy has always been an interesting topic. While numerous major scholarly works on Indonesia’s foreign policy have underlined this, most of them are empirically rich, but they lack an adequate theoretical framework (Agung; 1973; Anwar, 1994; Fionna et al., 2018; Hein, 1988; Kahin & Kahin, 1995; Leifer, 1983; Mackie, 1974; McMichael, 1987; Roberts et al., 2015; Shekhar, 2018; Smith, 2000; Sukma, 1999; Suryadinata, 1996; Weatherbee, 2016; Weinstein, 1976).1 This special issue uses neoclassical realism as a theoretical framework to explain how domestic politics interplay with external stimuli in the formulation of Indonesia’s foreign policy. Although structural realism continues to play a major role in explaining a state’s approach to its surrounding environment, there has emerged a growing literature, utilising concepts of neoclassical realism, placing greater emphasis on domestic politics as a complementary explanation. Neoclassical realism, along with variables of domestic politics, are explained at great lengths in the remainder of the articles in this special issue. Randall Schweller argues that the domesticlevel counterpart to structural realism is nationalism, particularly in an age of social media and mass politics (Schweller, 2018). According to him, nationalism had implications on the struggle among nations over issues of power, security and prestige that animate realism. Nationalism could result in the support of the policy of retrenchment or in increased assertiveness. Meanwhile, Steve Chan highlights Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs 8(3) 287–303, 2021 © The Author(s) 2021 Reprints and permissions: in.sagepub.com/journals-permissions-india DOI: 10.1177/23477970211039639 journals.sagepub.com/home/aia