FOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS

( ASSIGNMENT)

Submitted by:

Intan Nabila Putri Amelia

(016202005023)
President Soeharto’s Foreign Policy in 1990s

Muhammad Hatta had conceptualized foreign policy in Indonesia with the title

"free and active". In fact, this formulation of "free and active" is often difficult to interpret

and deduce from actual policy, on the contrary, foreign policy seems to be characterized

by an inherent duality that is driven by circumstances and innate pragmatism that is often

found and occurs in a region.

Historically, Indonesia's foreign policy has been at two poles which resulted in

an active and also a passive diplomatic phase. Actually, there are literally three phases. It

can be seen in the early 1950s, the more passive pragmatists managed to speak clearly

about "free and active" itself. As Faith said, independence should be "expressed" lightly

and not show openly anti-Western attitudes. But over time, Soekarno's spirit of nationalism

became more and more fiery resulting in excessive political energy. Especially after the

suspension of Constitutional Democracy and the implementation of Guided Democracy in

the late 1950s. Relations with the communist bloc strengthened after the mid-1950s. The

Soviet Union and China supplied Indonesia with modern weaponry, including the long-

range Tbpolev bomber. Armed with this and his strongly anti-imperialist rhetoric, Sukarno

embarked on a more assertive and confrontational foreign policy.

To understand Indonesia's foreign policy, we must organize it in a simpler

context. Considering that Indonesia's independence is a product of revolution from the

results of one's own ideas and not from the results of negotiations so that sovereignty is

handed over to Indonesia. The nationalism that Indonesia has is very anti-imperialistic,

which was finally brought by Soekarno to the post-independence era. Sukarno adopted a

political strategy that relied on politics as commander.

 After 1996, Indonesian diplomacy replaced confrontation with

accommodation, where idealism was replaced with pragmatism. The meaning of

Indonesian nationalism turned inward to concentrate on national development. Compared

to remaining in the ideals of activists during the Soekarno era, they came out for low profile

interests, more suitable for domestic purposes which were embedded with New Order

legitimacy. Recently, the civic element in the formation of foreign policy has generally

seen global developments as an opportunity to revive Indonesia's diplomatic profile.

The application of a free-active foreign policy during the Suharto era was in

stark contrast to the free-active policy of the Sukarno era, which was revolutionary and

confrontational. The policy is oriented towards the development and welfare of the people

through cooperation with other countries. The cooperation is aimed at obtaining capital

loans and deferral of foreign debt in order to help recover from the Indonesian economic

crisis. The foreign policy policies carried out during the New Order era were:

1. End the confrontation with Malaysia. President Sukarno launched Konfrontasi to reject

the formation of Malaysia by the British. After Suharto took power with Supersemar,

he ended the confrontation with a conference between Malaysia and Indonesia in

Bangkok on 28 May 1966.

2. Cut ties with the People's Republic of China. After the events of September 30, 1965,

the government under Suharto accused the PRC of funding and supporting the

perpetrators and the PKI. Therefore diplomatic relations with China were severed in

October 1967. These relations were only re-established in 1990.

3. Participate in forming ASEAN. Together with neighboring countries Malaysia,

Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines, Indonesia signed the Bangkok Declaration
 on August 8, 1967 to enhance cooperation in Southeast Asia and counter the threat of

communism.

4. Invading East Timor. In 1974, Portuguese Timor experienced a civil war that ended in

the victory of the left-leaning Fretilin. To avoid the possibility of communism

developing in East Timor, Indonesia invaded the country in 1975 with Operation

Seroja.

5. Back to being a PPB Member. Indonesia had left the PPB in 1965, under the leadership

of Sukarno who formed a rival organization, CONEFO. However, after Sukarno was

replaced by Suharto, Indonesia again asked to join the United Nations on 19 September

1966, and was readmitted by the United Nations General Council on 28 September

1966.

6. Help mediate the end of the conflict in Cambodia. To help stop the civil war in

Cambodia, Indonesia hosted a series of meetings called the Jakarta Informal Meetings

in 1988 and 1989.