Islam and Indonesian foreign policy under the Yudhoyono presidency / Akhmad Baihaqie
The central question posed by this study is why Indonesian foreign policy during Yudhoyono administration, compared to the previous ones, came to embrace policy of active engagement with the issues of Muslim concerns? Using state level analysis that rests on the proposition that foreign policy be...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Published: |
2017
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| Online Access: | http://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/7924/1/All.pdf http://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/7924/5/baihaqie.pdf http://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/7924/ |
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| Summary: | The central question posed by this study is why Indonesian foreign policy during
Yudhoyono administration, compared to the previous ones, came to embrace policy of
active engagement with the issues of Muslim concerns? Using state level analysis that
rests on the proposition that foreign policy begins at domestic situation and that external
posture of state is determined mainly by the internal factor, this qualitative study
attempted to search for the possible answer through dynamic relations between state and
political Islam in Indonesia as the prime mover.
Drawn mainly from library research and interview, it revealed that both
Soekarno and Soeharto have sidelined political Islam from the central discourse of
domestic politics. Parallel to that, Indonesian foreign policy has been neutralized from
Islamic influence, blocking Islamist groups from advancing their political standing at
the international forum. Yudhoyono administration, however, showed significant shift
by adopting series of foreign policies that show significant interest in Muslim concerns.
It was first time that Islamic glossaries entered foreign policy speeches, and diplomatic
machinery often cited jargons such as moderate Muslim, rahmatan lil ālamīn, and
ummatan wasaṭan. The fact that Indonesia is a country with Muslim majority has been
transformed to be the source of Indonesia’s international identity, which consequently
infused Indonesia to be involved in addressing various contemporary ummatic
challenges, forging closer and strategic relations with the Middle East countries, mainly
Saudi, as the cradle of Muslim civilization, and collaborating with Muslim
organizations and intellectuals in formulating and implementing some of foreign
policies. In doing so, Yudhoyono has made Islam, rather than being a liability, as
foreign policy asset. Further, this study reveals that Yudhoyono’s resort to Islam due to two
interrelated matters: the increasing importance of Islam in domestic politics in
Indonesia, and the increasing level of state’s confidence towards Islam, both of which
consequently permit the Islamic nuance to be present in Indonesian foreign policy. The
gradual proximity between state and Islam created harmonious and constructive
relations, enabling Islam to make inroads in informing foreign policy, either
dialectically through the Muslim pressure to the government, or peacefully by voluntary
state’s reception to incorporate Muslim aspirations. |
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