THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE “INDEPENDENT AND ACTIVE’ FOREIGN POLICY PRINCIPLE IN PRESIDENT JOKOWI’S FOREIGN POLICY FORMULATION TO ADDRESS THE US-CHINA RIVALRY IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA (2014-2019)

Abstract

This study is conducted to understand how President Jokowi’s administration implement the “Independent and Active” principle to address US-China Rivalry in the South China Sea from 2014 to 2019. The necessity for a research on this topic arose, because the “Independent and Active” principle is construed differently throughout presidencies, and it would be interesting to see how the principle applies in contemporary International politics under the current President. The significance of this study is that it covers how Indonesia’s historical foreign policy principle stands in the test of time and how President Jokowi’s first-term administration applied the “Independent and Active” principle to enact policies based on their perception towards the Operational Environment. The areas covered by this research includes Foreign Policy Analysis on President Jokowi’s administration’s Foreign Policy to address the US-China Rivalry in the South China Sea from 2014-2019, including analysis on the Global, Subordinate, Bilateral, and Individual level. The Research Method used in this research is the Qualitative method, by using the Framework for Research on Foreign Policy Behavior by Brecher et al. The limitation for this study is that it will not explore deep into intra-ASEAN members’ dispute on the South China Sea, or foreign policies that are irrelevant for the US-China rivalry. The main findings of this research are that the Global Maritime Fulcrum policy was implemented by President Jokowi’s administration to keep Indonesia “Independent” by becoming an advanced, strong, and economically self-sufficient Maritime state; and “Active” by taking advantage of Indonesia’s maritime status to play an active role in preservation of peace and order in the region and the world as a middle power.