Indonesia's Position in the New Architecture of South Pacific Regional Politics

Lecture:

Burhanuddin, SIP., M.Si.

Compiled by Group 3:

Indra Rahmatullah (E061191019)

Vira Amalia Azzahrah(E061191029)

Azzahra Safirah Thamrin(E061191031)

Iqlha Diliasta Tampubolon(E061191096)

Muh. Fauzan Azim(E061191107)

Science of International Relations

Faculty of Social And Political Sciences

Hasanuddin University

2021
 FOREWORD

Praise the presence of Allah SWT who has given his grace and guidance so that we can
complete the task of the paper entitled "Indonesia's Position in the New Architecture of South
Pacific Regional Politics" in time.

The purpose of the writing of this paper is to fulfill the task in the field of study of
Southwest Pasik courses In addition, this paper also aims to add insight into Indonesia's Position
in the New Architecture of South Pacific Regional Politics for readers and also for writers.

We realize that the paper we created is far from perfect in terms of preparation, language,
and writing. Therefore, we sincerely expect constructive criticism and suggestions from all
readers to be a reference so that writers can be better in the future. Hopefully this paper can add
insight to the readers and can be useful for the development and improvement of science.

Makassar, March 2021

Group 3
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORDS.......................................................................................ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS......................................................................iii

CHAPTER I ..........................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION.................................................................................1

1.1 Background.................................................................................1
1.2 Problem Formulation...................................................................2
1.3 Purpose of Discussion.................................................................2

CHAPTER II.........................................................................................3

DISCUSSION.....................................................................................3

2.1 Geographical location of the South pacific in Indonesian shutter.3

2.2 Indonesian foreign policy principles that can be shared with the

Southwest Pacific.............................................................................8

2.3 SWpD (South West Pasific Dialogue)………………………....11

CHAPTER III........................................................................................13

CLOSING............................................................................................13

3.1 Conclusion ................................................................................13

BIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................14
 CHAPTER I

Introduction

1.1 Background

The South Pacific is an area located to the east of The Indonesian territory which is precisely
bordered between West Papua and Papua New Guinea to the Pitcairn archipelago, as well as
Australia and New Zealand to the south. South Pacific is a region that has characteristics in the
form of a wide expanse of ocean, consisting of island nations and islands that are often dubbed as
the Pacific Rim ( basin of the Pacific) which geographically covers an area of 30 million km2
south of the Pacific ocean. The South Pacific was originally inhabited by immigrants from
Southeast Asia and other Asia later known as the Melanesian, Micronesian and Polynesian
tribes. Melanesia, from a cluster of islands to the north and northeast of Australia, namely Papua
New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, and New Caledonia. Her physical features are dark
skinned and curly-haired. Micronesia consists of eight countries: Micronesia, Guam, Kiribati,
Marshall Islands, Nauru, Northern Mariana islands, Palau, and Wake Islands. His physical
features are black, and have a small Polynesian nose consisting of clusters of islands in the
middle and south indian oceans such as Hawaii, New Zaeland, Easter Island. His physical
features are stocky stature, strapping, fair skin and straight hair. The economies of countries in
the South Pacific are generally limited. The main incomes that are relied on are from fisheries,
coconut plantations, tourism, and handicrafts sectors. The tourism sector in the region is one of
the largest foreign exchange suppliers. In 2005, the South Pacific obtained foreign exchange
reaching USD 1.5 billion (Pacific Island Trade and Invest, 2012).
1.2 Problem Formulation

1. Explain the geographical location of the South Pacific and its relation to the country of
Indonesia?

2. What are the principles of Indonesian foreign policy that can be shared with the southwest
Pacific?

3. What is behind the south pacific cultural region?

1.3 Purpose of Discussion

1. To know the geographical location of the southern pasik

2. To know the connection with the country of Indonesia

3. To know the background of the south pacific cultural region

 CHAPTER II

Discussion

2.1 Geographical Location of South Pacific and Its Relation to Indonesia

Geographical location is the location of an area that is seen from the state of the earth's
surface and then based on the state of the environment. In general, the geographical location of
an area is determined in various aspects such as astronomical, physiographic, geological and
socio-cultural aspects. Indonesia is one of the countries that has a large and vast archipelago.
With a geographical location located between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, not only
that Indonesia is also located between the Asian continent and the Australian continent, which
makes Indonesia as a strategic country that has a great influence on the cultural, social, and
economic circumstances.

Indonesia is often found to be in the relationship between other countries whose purpose is
to develop the country and improve the economy or social inequality it has. Thus there are
advantages and disadvantages incurred due to its geographical location. The first advantage
obtained is in the economic field, the utilization of natural resources in Indonesia is still running
because it has a very abundant natural resources such as in agriculture that can produce various
types of foodstuffs such as rice, vegetables, fruits and cultivation of rare species of crops that can
be utilized in import export activities. The second advantage is in the field of transportation,
Indonesia which is an international trade traffic certainly receives the impact of improving
modern transportation from developed countries. In this case sea and air transportation is the
main pillar in world trade, therefore Indonesia can make transactions to purchase transportation
equipment for the purposes of his country and also the purposes in international trade such as in
the case of the purchase of ships, aircraft and others. In addition, it must also improve domestic
transportation to maximize the delivery of goods or agricultural products from one place to
another. Not only to increase trade, but also to improve transportation to tourist attractions in
Indonesia.
 The third advantage is in the field of socio-cultural, Indonesia that has a diversity of customs
and culture is what can be used to show the world that Indonesia has its own keistemewaan.
However, the culture that enters Indonesia today has many, especially Western culture, the
culture that enters Indonesia will be studied first and then combined with the culture of the
surrounding community so as to create acculturation between local culture and foreign culture.
The fourth is in the field of communication, Indonesia has the advantage through foreign traders
who enter. Where Indonesians are mostly required to be able to speak English as an international
language is very important in many ways. Of course, with foreign traders entering who may offer
cooperation in a field that benefits each party, this needs to be utilized because it can lead to
good international relations and can add to working relationships with other world countries. In
addition, Indonesia will also get experience for other foreign languages such as learning
Japanese, German, French and so on.

Besides the advantages that Indonesia has in its geographical location there are certainly
some shortcomings or disadvantages that occur fish theft in the sea border area of Indonesia with
other countries, this happens because of the lack of strict supervision from the government of the
Indonesian sea zone. There is a black market at certain points that causes the onset of fraud in
certain areas. Many foreign nationals live in Indonesia but do not meet the established
procedures. The occurrence of global competition in various unhealthy fields. People are
becoming more consumptive towards goods from abroad. The loss of prevailing norms in society
resulted from the culture that entered Indonesia.
 2.2 Indonesian foreign policy principles that can be shared with the Southwest Pacific

Indonesia has a foreign policy which is based on the principle of free and active. A free and
active foreign policy contains two fundamental elements, namely "Free" and "Active", in the
context of conditions of conflict between the two blocks, "Free" politics means that Indonesia is
not in the two blocs and has its own way of dealing with international problems. Meanwhile, the
term "Active" means efforts to work harder to maintain peace and reduce tensions between the
two blocs. In a broader sense, freedom means showing the high level of nationalism and
rejecting the involvement or dependence on outsiders who can reduce Indonesia's sovereignty.

Due to the aforementioned Indonesian stance, Indonesia's foreign policy is often referred
to as neutral. However, he emphasized that Indonesia's foreign policy is not politically neutral
because it is not faced with a choice in the relations of countries at war. Indonesia's attitude is
based more on considerations to strengthen and fight for peace. This needs to be emphasized,
because apart from not taking the side of the United States Bloc or the Soviet Union, Indonesia's
foreign policy does not intend to participate in the third bloc which is intended as a form of
resistance to the two major blocs. This also means that Indonesia has no desire to form a third
bloc by building partnerships with Asian and African countries. Indonesia opposes all forms of
colonialism and participates in advancing world peace. The foreign policy of a country, which is
a combination of national interests, national goals of the nation, geopolitical position or
configuration and its national history, is influenced by domestic (internal) and international
(external) factors. In other words, foreign policy is an effort to reconcile national interests,
particularly development plans, with developments and changes in the international environment.

A free and active foreign policy, which is the principle of Indonesia's foreign policy, has
proven to be a valuable contribution, both in terms of economy, politics and national security
stability. Security stability is a condition in which each country expects a relationship without
violence, without conflict, and warfare in resolving problems arising from differences in the
national interests of each country. Since the late 1970s, the Indonesian government began to
realize the importance of the Pacific South and its relevance to national defense and security.
Another fact that cannot be ruled out is that several countries in the South Pacific region have
similar ethnology with residents in the eastern region of the Republic of Indonesia.
 The South Pacific is divided into 3 cultural areas, namely Micronesia, Melanesia, and
Polynesia. Especially for the Melanesian cultural area, which has similarities, especially in the
ethnological aspect, with the population in eastern Indonesia, one of which is Papua. The
southern part of the equator, stretching from the west towards the middle of the Pacific Ocean, is
a cultural area of Melanesia. Countries from this family are quite active in voicing the
Melanesian Brotherhood movement, which are also actively involved in highlighting every
problem that occurs in Papua and Timor Leste. The progressive discourse of regional awareness
in this area has been initiated since 1947 with the establishment of the South Pacific
Commission. The aim of establishing the SPC is to restore stability in the Pacific region which
experienced turbulence during the Second World War.40 The South Pacific is actually the
deepest concentric circle for the Republic of Indonesia, therefore, attention needs to be directed
as much as possible to the region which after World War II experienced significant political
changes.

Indonesia's foreign policy in the South Pacific region in the Joko Widodo era was
different from that of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The implementation of Indonesia's foreign
policy will continue to be based on the principle of free and active. All of Indonesia's foreign
policies are basically devoted to the national interest of Indonesia, such as the era of Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono, who played an important role in the implementation of foreign policy
towards ASEAN. More attention to the Southeast Asian region has resulted in the lack of
attention to the South Pacific region which is geographically also a concentric circle of
Indonesian foreign policy. It is different from the Joko Widodo era, where this was very evident
when Indonesia began to be actively involved in the South Pacific forum. The era of Joko
Widodo administration was very aggressive in embracing the Melanesiian race in Eastern
Indonesia. This can be seen from the beginning of Joko Widodo's campaign (before being
elected President) which was carried out in Papua. Joko Widodo pledged to build better
infrastructure in the Papua region, which was not previously a center of development.

After the election of Joko Widodo and Yusuf Kalla in 2014 as the 7th President and Vice
President of the Republic of Indonesia, the Indonesian working cabinet underwent significant
changes. This can be seen with the joining of Yohana Imbise, as the son of the Papua region,
who serves as the Minister of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection of Indonesia. This
looks different because previously the native Papuans were very minimally involved in the
Indonesian working cabinet. In connection with the Melanesian Spread head Group forum, in
2015 Indonesia's status was elevated to an associate member, initially as an observer since 2011.
With this increase in status, it is seen that Indonesia is starting to get serious in carrying out
foreign policy in the South Pacific region. When Joko Widodo became President, the South
Pacific had indeed become a target to expand his wings in foreign politics. How not, because the
previous government did not focus on the South Pacific which actually had a strong influence on
the issue of Papuan independence. The Papua issue has become the headline of Indonesia's
foreign policy with countries in the South Pacific region. As countries that are located in the
Pacific islands which generally consist of small countries. However, what became a problem was
his moral support for the separatists who supported Papuan independence or other organizations
that would threaten the integrity of the Republic of Indonesia. However, domestic reactions and
perspectives on the Papua issue were not as busy as the issues that surfaced in the South Pacific
region at that time. Prioritizing race as a context is one of their issues regarding West Irian as a
Melanesian brotherhood because generally some countries in the region do not look at the history
of Indonesia. Their movements or protests are based solely on the assumption that Indonesia is
initiating an expansion of the countries in eastern Papua after the Perpera Regulation.

The danger remains that Indonesia’s Indo-Pacific strategy may be a weak play amid its
unresolved naval weakness, increasing pressure of great power politics, a divided and powerless
ASEAN, unenforceable principles, and a vaguely outlined and ineffective multilateral approach.
One Indonesian commentator was blunt: “Indonesia’s Indo-Pacific strategy is driven less by a
coherent national strategy than by a choice made due to the lack of alternatives resulting from
Indonesia’s domestic and international weaknesses,” in which “Indonesia’s sole goal is, in
essence, to avoid being dragged into conflict”.
 2.3 SWpD (South West Pasific Dialogue)

The South West Pacific Dialogue (SWpD) has become a dialogue forum for Australia, the
Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, and East Timor to exchange views and
information on important issues in the Southwest Pacific.

Ministerial Level Meetings (PTM) SWpD is held once a year with alternating hosts. In its
implementation, the meeting took place in a specific city within a member state or in New York
adjacent to the UN General Assembly. Since 2004, SWpD Ministerial Meeting (PTM) has
always been held side by side with ASEAN Ministerial Meeting / Post Ministerial Conference
and ASEAN Regional Forum (AMM / PMC and ARF).

PTM SWpD has been implemented 8 times, namely; in Yogyakarta (host: Indonesia), 5
October 2002; in New York (host: New Zealand), 27 September 2003; in Adelaide (host:
Australia), 3 December 2004; in Kuala Lumpur (host: Indonesia), 26 July 2006; in Manila
(hosted by: Philippines), July 31, 2007; in Singapore (host: East Timor), 22 July 2008; in Phuket
(hosted: PNG), July 21, 2009; in Hanoi (host: New Zealand), 23 July 2010.

Indonesia focuses on cooperation in terms of individual interactions in SWpD countries.

Through cultural and educational cooperation activities and inter-faith diaoog, Indonesia tries to
conduct Confidence Building Measure (CBM) between SWpD member countries.

Some of the forms of regular cooperation conducted by Indonesia with SWpD member
countries are:

1. Indonesian Art and Culture Scholarship (the Indonesian Art and Culture Scholarship)

2. Journalist Visit Program

3. Scholarship Scholarships and Developing Countries Cooperation Scholarships (the

Dharmasiswa and the Developing Countries Partnership Scholarship)

4. Diplomatic Training Course for Diplomats

5. Developing Country Technical Cooperation (the Indonesian Technical Cooperation

among Developing Countries Program)
 The last PTM SWpD, the 8th meeting held in Hanoi, Vietnam, July 23, 2010, side by side
with the 17th AMM/PMC/ARF meeting, with New Zealand as the host. In this meeting, the main
focus returned to the form of Joint Media Statement cooperation, namely discussion of important
issues in the Southwest Pacific.

The main agenda of the meeting was the exchange of views on the development of the
Southwest Pacific area. Under the agenda, the meeting is discussed. (i) Fiji's conditions and
constructive agreement with Fiji (ii) restrictions on the exploitation of tuna in regional waters
and sustainable fishing as a way out of (iii) Bali's progress as an effort to address the issue of
human smuggling and the problem of illegal immigrants in the area (iv) maritime security (v)
and the fight against terrorism.

In the meeting, Indonesia had the opportunity to share the Capability Building program for
SWpD countries (2009-2011) which contains several programs as Indonesia's contribution to
SWpD countries.

In the meeting, the Minister of Foreign Affairs also agreed to implement PTM with
Australia as host, alongside the 43rd AMM / PMC and 18th ARF, which will be held on July 11,
2011 in Bali, Indonesia.
 CHAPTER III
Cover
3.1 Conclusion
Indonesia is one of the countries that has a large and vast archipelago. With a geographical
location located between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, not only that Indonesia is also
located between the Asian continent and the Australian continent, which makes Indonesia as a
strategic country that has a great influence on the cultural, social, and economic circumstances.
In terms of south pacific regional politics itself Indonesia tends to focus on implementing
cooperation in terms of humanity, education and connectivity between countries, as we can see
in the routine cooperation programs conducted with SWpD member countries.
 BIOGRAPHY
.
Burhanuddin. 2019. Kajian Kawasan Pasifik Barat Daya. Makassar: Indonesia. UPT
UNHAS Press.

https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/77627793.pdf

https://ilmugeografi.com/ilmu-bumi/keuntungan-letak-geografis-indonesia

https://kemlu.go.id/portal/en/read/138/halaman_list_lainnya/south-west-pacific-dialogue-
swpd
Name: Indra Rahmatullah

Journal Review

Source: 1Muhammad Naser El-Haq; 2Muhammad Saef El-Islam. 2020. AUSTRALIA AS A

REGIONAL POWER IN THE EXPLOITATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES IN THE
PACIFIC REGION.

Reviews:

This journal aims to explain how Australia's strength in the Pacific region is particularly in terms
of exploitation of natural resources. The structure of this journal can be said to be very complete
with the study of literature, and the theoretical framework before entering into the core
discussion. But if we look closely, the journal also tends to focus its discussion on aspects of
Australian history in the pacific region, particularly the history of colonialism and Australia's
role in WWII.

But in general this journal can be said to explain how australia's condition and strength in the
pacific region, and managed to explain how the condition of exploitation of natural resources in
the southwest Pacific region with an explanation of the exploits that occurred in West Papua,
Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Fiji.
Journal Review

Journal Title:

Indonesia Grapples with the Indo-Pacific: Outreach, Strategic Discourse, and Diplomacy

Author: David Scott

Publication: Southeast Asian Affairs 2019, Vol. 38(2) 194–217

Reviewer: Iqlha Diliasta Tampubolon

Reviews

The author made this junral aims to add insight to readers about Indonesia grappling in
the Indo-Pacific region. In this journal the author is based on the following three analyses -
Indonesia's actions in the Indo-Pacific, its strategic discourse on the Indo Pacific, and its Indo-
Pacific diplomacy. The authors argue that Indonesia's more active involvement in regional and
subregional structures in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The strategic discourse consists of three
concepts of Natalegawa's "Indo-Pacific Agreement", Jokowi's "maritime nexus" drive, and the
current "Indo-Pacific Cooperation Concept". Diplomacy is pursued in relation to Indonesia's
relations with Australia, Japan, China, India, and the United States. The journal concludes that
while Indonesia is indeed on the rise as an Indo-Pacific actor, its continued naval weakness
undermines Indonesia's "maritime relations" stance, while its reluctance to challenge China
makes the Indo-Pacific Treaty of Indonesia and its IPCC vague and to some extent. ignoring the
uncomfortable security concerns posed by China. Closer synergies for Indonesia with the US and
Japan's Free and Open Indo-Pacific initiatives are recommended.

The writing of this journal is neatly arranged and structured. The discussion in this
journal is centered and does not deviate or deviate from the topic. The author has set topic
boundaries and divided the discussion into sections at the beginning of writing. The author also
conveys three focuses to the reader, which will be discussed in this journal. In conducting the
analysis, the author uses qualitative analysis, this journal is systematic to the parts and
phenomena and relationships, according to the focus of allysis contained in the abstract journal.
Journal Review by: Vira Amalia Azzahrah

Journal tittle:

WHY INDONESIA IS COOPERATING WITH MELANESIAN SPEARHEAD GROUP

(MSG)

Author: Wirda Wanda Sari Bekarekar

Reviews;

The purpose of making this journal is to explain why Indonesia cooperates with MSG or
Melanesian Spearhead Group. Indonesia itself is a strategic area in relation to foreign politics.

From the description of some of the writings found, in this study the authors found
similarities and differences to be able to support and show novelty studies in this paper. The
location of the equation from the writing that has been described is equally explained about the
involvement of Melanesian Spearhead Group, Indonesia, and West Papua in the South Pacific
region. Then the difference is located in Indonesia as its analysis unit to explain the rationality of
Indonesia in cooperation with melanesian Spearhead Group and in this study the author uses the
concept of Foreign Policy. Many factors explain the rise of separatism, namely history, economic
inequality and political injustice, and the feeling of being marginalized by the political and
economic systems. This problem will be more complicated because globalization and openness
make those involved have a freer space to move beyond national boundaries. The Free Papua
Organization emerged when one of the regions in Indonesia, Papua, was debated about its status
within the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia. The history of conflict in Papua began
since the unification of Papua into the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.
Journal Title : Dynamics of Southwest Pacific Region in Global Record
Author : Burhanuddin
Reviewer : Azzahra Safirah Thamrin

Reviews:
This journal aims to add reader insight on the global political record refers to
two objectives, namely knowing the interests of major countries in the
Southwest Pacific Region and knowing the interests of major countries in the
Southwest Pacific Region. This journal uses Descriptive-Analitif method that
provides an overview of the phenomena that occur and relevant.and describes
the Southwest Pacific region and its strategic value and interaction with
international parties.
The writing of this journal is neatly organized and structured. The results of
this study show that the southwest Pacific region consists of 22 political units
also known as the South Pacific or Oceania, strategic values and a number of
international interests present in the region. Some major countries that are
interested and instill their influence in the region, such as Australia and New
Zealand, the United States, France, China and Japan the presence of Australia
and New Zealand can not be separated from the proximity and status as part
of this region.
Journal Title : Indonesia’s Cooperation Relations With South Pacific Countries
Author : Yumna Sani Anshari G
Reviewer : M. Fauzan Azim

Reviews :

This journal is basically a coordinated effort among members or actors directed to

achieve a common goal. cooperation is a form of diverse interaction in which the purpose
of one actor is closely related to the purpose of the actor.
Before the existence of cooperation there must be formed interaction / relationship
on the basis of trust, identity similarity and needs that each other can complete. After a
relationship or bond that is established, cooperation can be created. This form of
cooperation usually avoids conflict or violence between actors. Cooperation between
countries at this time is an inevitable phenomenon. Cooperation is carried out to meet its
capacity and needs. The selection of countries invited to cooperate can also be seen from
several aspects. Distance / proximity geographically, cultural similarity becomes one of
the factors. This similarity facilitates cooperation and interdependence.