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Rising Indonesia’s Turn to the Indo-Pacific Region: Power, Ambition and Strategy
An Indo Pacific Foreign Policy and Defense Seminar and Book Discussion featuring:
Dr. Vibhanshu Shekhar
Former Asia Studies Visiting Fellow,
East West Center in Washington
Dr. Satu Limaye (Moderator)
Director, East-West Center in Washington
Nearly every conventional precept in Indonesian foreign policy is undergoing transformation as the country positions itself as a rising
power in an uncertain Indo-Pacific during the first quarter of the 21st century. The principles of two-reefs, non-alignment and middle power diplomacy, and the geostrategic contexts of Southeast Asia and ASEAN no longer fully explain emerging Indonesia’s international behavior as the quest for great power status is gaining salience in the domestic debate. At the heart of the foreign policy reset lies a new Indonesia driven by a broader sense of status-dissonance and international ambition, and inspired by increasing international recognition. Indonesian leaders are signaling an upward status marked by broader geopolitical projection, internal balancing, leadership projection and the quest for parity in the engagement with great powers. Indonesia’s new maritime strategy, overtures towards the Indian Ocean and African continent, and Indo-Pacific strategy are expressions of its changing posture. Dr. Vibhanshu Shekhar’s new book, Indonesia’s Foreign Policy and Grand Strategy in the 21st Century: Rise of an Indo-Pacific Power (Routledge 2018) offers new ways and frames to understand and explain the rising Indonesia and its pan-Indo-Pacific Worldview.
For more images, please visit the album for this event on the East-West Center's Flickr page.
Vibhanshu Shekhar is a former Asia Studies Visiting Fellow at the East West Center. His research and publications cover various key themes of international relations of Asia – foreign relations of two rising Asian powers (India and Indonesia), critical geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific region, and ASEAN regionalism and its challenges. He has authored two books on Indonesia and co-edited three volumes on India’s ‘Look East’ policy, perhaps the most successful foreign policy initiative of India’s engagement in the Indo-Pacific region. In addition to books and edited volumes, his works have appeared in various international journals, newsmagazines, newspapers, and websites. He has a Ph.D. from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
Dr. Satu Limaye is Director of the East West Center in Washington and the creator of the Asia Matters for America/America Matters for Asia initiative. He is also Senior Advisor, CNA Corporation. Earlier, Dr. Limaye served on the research staff of the Strategy, Forces & Resources Division at the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) and Director of Research & Publications at the Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies. His recent publications include: Weighted West, Focused on the Indian Ocean and Cooperating Across the Indo-Pacific: India's New Maritime Strategy, Capabilities and Diplomacy (CNA, 2017); "Integrating an Ally and an Aligner in a 'Principled Security Network': The U.S. and the India-Japan Strategic Partnership" in Rajesh Basrur and Sumithi Narayanan Kutty (eds.) The India-Japan Strategic Partnership, Springer: 2018; "ASEAN is Neither the Problem Nor Solution to South China Sea Disputes," in Gilbert Rozman and Joseph Chinyong Liow, International Relations and Asia's Southern Tier, 2017; "From Peak to Plateau in U.S.-ASEAN Relations," in Mari Elka Pangestu and Rastam Mohd Isa (eds.), ASEAN Future Forward, 2017. Dr. Limaye also writes the annual analysis of India-East Asia and US-India relations for the Pacific Forum CSIS journal Comparative Connections. He is a magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Georgetown University and received his doctorate from Oxford University (Magdalen College) where he was a George C. Marshall Scholar.
Rising Indonesia’s Turn to the Indo-Pacific Region: Power, Ambition and Strategy
An Indo Pacific Foreign Policy and Defense Seminar and Book Discussion featuring:
Dr. Vibhanshu Shekhar
Former Asia Studies Visiting Fellow,
East West Center in Washington
Dr. Satu Limaye (Moderator)
Director, East-West Center in Washington
Nearly every conventional precept in Indonesian foreign policy is undergoing transformation as the country positions itself as a rising
power in an uncertain Indo-Pacific during the first quarter of the 21st century. The principles of two-reefs, non-alignment and middle power diplomacy, and the geostrategic contexts of Southeast Asia and ASEAN no longer fully explain emerging Indonesia’s international behavior as the quest for great power status is gaining salience in the domestic debate. At the heart of the foreign policy reset lies a new Indonesia driven by a broader sense of status-dissonance and international ambition, and inspired by increasing international recognition. Indonesian leaders are signaling an upward status marked by broader geopolitical projection, internal balancing, leadership projection and the quest for parity in the engagement with great powers. Indonesia’s new maritime strategy, overtures towards the Indian Ocean and African continent, and Indo-Pacific strategy are expressions of its changing posture. Dr. Vibhanshu Shekhar’s new book, Indonesia’s Foreign Policy and Grand Strategy in the 21st Century: Rise of an Indo-Pacific Power (Routledge 2018) offers new ways and frames to understand and explain the rising Indonesia and its pan-Indo-Pacific Worldview.
For more images, please visit the album for this event on the East-West Center's Flickr page.
Vibhanshu Shekhar is a former Asia Studies Visiting Fellow at the East West Center. His research and publications cover various key themes of international relations of Asia – foreign relations of two rising Asian powers (India and Indonesia), critical geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific region, and ASEAN regionalism and its challenges. He has authored two books on Indonesia and co-edited three volumes on India’s ‘Look East’ policy, perhaps the most successful foreign policy initiative of India’s engagement in the Indo-Pacific region. In addition to books and edited volumes, his works have appeared in various international journals, newsmagazines, newspapers, and websites. He has a Ph.D. from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
Dr. Satu Limaye is Director of the East West Center in Washington and the creator of the Asia Matters for America/America Matters for Asia initiative. He is also Senior Advisor, CNA Corporation. Earlier, Dr. Limaye served on the research staff of the Strategy, Forces & Resources Division at the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) and Director of Research & Publications at the Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies. His recent publications include: Weighted West, Focused on the Indian Ocean and Cooperating Across the Indo-Pacific: India's New Maritime Strategy, Capabilities and Diplomacy (CNA, 2017); "Integrating an Ally and an Aligner in a 'Principled Security Network': The U.S. and the India-Japan Strategic Partnership" in Rajesh Basrur and Sumithi Narayanan Kutty (eds.) The India-Japan Strategic Partnership, Springer: 2018; "ASEAN is Neither the Problem Nor Solution to South China Sea Disputes," in Gilbert Rozman and Joseph Chinyong Liow, International Relations and Asia's Southern Tier, 2017; "From Peak to Plateau in U.S.-ASEAN Relations," in Mari Elka Pangestu and Rastam Mohd Isa (eds.), ASEAN Future Forward, 2017. Dr. Limaye also writes the annual analysis of India-East Asia and US-India relations for the Pacific Forum CSIS journal Comparative Connections. He is a magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Georgetown University and received his doctorate from Oxford University (Magdalen College) where he was a George C. Marshall Scholar.
