Skip to content
Indonesia

Can Indonesia Reclaim Its Dominance of Southeast Asian Strategic Policymaking?

<p>Indonesia&#8217;s President Joko Widodo sits in the cockpit of a Sukhoi fighter jet while attending a military exercise at Ranai military airbase in Natuna Island, Riau Islands province, Indonesia on October 6, 2016.</p>
Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo sits in the cockpit of a Sukhoi fighter jet while attending a military exercise at Ranai military airbase in Natuna Island, Riau Islands province, Indonesia on October 6, 2016. Beawiharta/Reuters

By experts and staff

Published

For the latter half of the twentieth century, after the United Nations officially recognized Indonesian independence in 1949, Indonesia dominated regional politics in Southeast Asia. But during its shift from authoritarianism to democracy, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Indonesia mostly lost that mantle of leadership. Now, with its democracy consolidated—though hardly perfect—and Indonesian leaders increasingly concerned about a range of regional threats, Jakarta is once again trying to lead Southeast Asia. Will it succeed? For more on whether Indonesia can reclaim this mantle, see my new article for Aspenia Online.