Islam In Indonesian Foreign Policy

Annotation. This book explores the position of Islam as one of the domestic political variables in Indonesia's foreign policy during the Soeharto era. It argues that the foreign policy of Indonesia toward the Muslim world under Soeharto was increasingly the result of political struggles between domestic actors, particularly the Muslim community and the State.

This companion volume to the highly successful Islam in Malaysian Foreign Policy explores the extent to which foreign policy in the world's largest Muslim nation has been influenced by Islamic considerations.

The past fifteen years have seen Indonesia move away from authoritarianism to a thriving yet imperfect democracy. During this time, the archipelago attracted international attention as the most-populated Muslim-majority country in the world. As religious issues and actors have been increasingly taken into account in the analysis and conduct of international relations, particularly since the 9/11 events, Indonesia’s leaders have adapted to this new context. Taking a socio-historical perspective, this book examines the growing role of transnational Islamic Non-State Actors (NSAs) in post-authoritarian Indonesia and how it has affected the making of Indonesia’s foreign policy since the country embarked on the democratization process in 1998. It returns to the origins of the relationship between Islamic organisations and the Indonesian institutions in order to explain the current interactions between transnational Islamic actors and the country’s official foreign policies. The book considers for the first time the interactions between the "parallel diplomacy" undertaken by Indonesia’s Islamic NSAs and the country’s official foreign policy narrative and actions. It explains the adaptation of the state’s responses, and investigates the outcomes of those responses on the country’s international identity. Combining field-collected data and a theoretical reflexion, it offers a distanced analysis which deepens theoretical approaches on transnational religious actors. Providing original research in Asian Studies, while filling an empirical gap in international relations theory, this book will be of interest to scholars of Indonesian Studies, Islamic Studies, International Relations and Asian Politics.

This companion volume to the highly successful Islam in Malaysian Foreign Policy explores the extent to which foreign policy in the world's largest Muslim nation has been influenced by Islamic considerations.

How can an underdeveloped country like Indonesia draw on outside resources for its national development without sacrificing its independence? Approaching the problem from the vantage point of the Indonesian elite, this important work explores the complex interactions between domestic political factors and the shaping of foreign policy. To illustrate the ways in which underdevelopment has affected Indonesia's international participation, Professor Weinstein presents a graphic picture of what Indonesia's leaders see when they view the outside world, and he systematically seeks out the sources of their perceptions. He shows that most of the elite see the international system as dominated by exploitative powers that cannot be relied on to assist Indonesia's development. He examines the relationship between perceptions and politics under both Sukarno and Soeharto and offers an illuminating comparison of the bases of foreign policy under each leader, revealing dramatic changes and surprising continuities. His cogent analysis helps to explain the sharp reversal of policy in 1966, and his conclusions form a convincing hypothesis that can be tested in other Third World countries. This book, now brought back to life as a member of Equinox Publishing's Classic Indonesia series, will attract specialists in Southeast Asia, as well as readers with a broader interest in the politics and economics of underdeveloped countries. FRANKLIN B. WEINSTEIN was Director of the Project on United States-Japan Relations at Stanford University, where he also taught in the Department of Political Science. A graduate of Yale University, he received his PhD from Cornell University.

Across the Muslim world, religion plays an increasingly prominent role in both the private and public lives of over a billion people. Will democratic political participation by an increasingly religious population lead to victories by Islamists at the ballot box? Will more conspicuously pious Muslims participate in politics and markets in a fundamentally different way than they had previously? Against the common assumption that piety would naturally inhibit any tendencies towards modernity, democracy, or cosmopolitanism, Piety and Public Opinion reveals the complex and subtle links between religion and political beliefs in a critically important Muslim democracy.

An important book that bridges the gap between the more specialist literature and the - often depressingly ill-informed - comments of journalists and ideologues. Merle Ricklefs Professor, Department of History, National University of Singapore --

[Truncated abstract] This study explores the roles of Islam in Indonesia's foreign policy. Indonesia is a country with the world's largest Muslim community, where the political meaning of Islam is contested in the process of nation-building. Islam has come under increasing scrutiny by international relations scholars, particularly since Islamic extremism has become one of the major challenges to the post-Cold War world order. Therefore, it is important to research whether and how the religion has impacted the basic thinking and making of foreign policy in Indonesia. To contextualize the analysis, the study pays special attention to Indonesia's relations with Pakistan as a major case study. Chapter One examines the role of Islam in Indonesian foreign policy within three dimensions; national identity formation, elite interest and domestic politics, and external situations. The discussion on Jakarta-Islamabad relations are presented in chapters organized based on the changing political regimes in Jakarta and developments of international and regional Islamic-related issues, in a synthetic fashion. Chapter Two demonstrates that under the Sukarno regime (1945-1965) there was a shift in Indonesia's policy towards Pakistan; from avoiding to using Islamic identity. This was coupled with the change in Jakarta's strategic interests in the relationships with Pakistan and India. Chapter Three and Four report on the weakening of Islam's role in Indonesia- Pakistan relations, particularly as happened during the 1970s and 1980s under the New Order of Suharto in Indonesia. Islam did not rate as an important factor because the Indonesian government tended to pursue secular interests - with an emphasis on discourses of economic development and regional stability. Chapter Five discusses the growing interest between Indonesia and Pakistan to enhance cordial ties. Following two decades of waning relations the commencement of re-engagement took place in the mid 1990s when Indonesia was performing a greater commitment towards the Muslim world, at the same time as Pakistan was pursuing closer ties with Southeast and East Asian powers. However, Islam was not reflected as an identity which Suharto wanted to construct in foreign policy alone, but as the consistent implementation of the independent activism policy. Chapter Six explores Indonesia's responses to the Kashmir conflict, particularly since people uprising has shaken the state in the early 1990. This chapter asserts that although Islam was not a factor in Indonesia favouring Pakistan on the Kashmir issue, Indonesia maintains the position of impartiality. Chapter Seven looks at how and why Indonesia views the importance of Pakistan in the global war on terrorism. It demonstrates that the policy is made upon the mixed context of Islamic and non-Islamic considerations. This study concludes that Islam, to a limited degree, is used by the Indonesian government to relate with Pakistan, but it has not become the major consideration and real reference in shaping Jakarta's foreign policy towards Islamabad. The role of Islam is marginal. The relationship between Indonesia and Pakistan is dominated by secular economic and political agendas...

As with many newly democratic countries, Indonesia faces common problems such as crisis of leadership, ethnic and communal conflicts, and the clash of Islam and the West. Indonesia, Islam, and Democracy: Dynamics in a Global Context brings fresh insight to the growing influence of Islam which is often ignored by foreign observers. Azyumardi Azra, a noted historian, breaks away from the common analysis of the current political situation and uncovers the lineages of the influence of Islam in Indonesian politics since the collapse of the Suharto era. Azyumardi Azra is Professor of History and Rector of Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) in Jakarta. An internationally recognized scholar, he has presented papers in numerous conferences at home and abroad and has lectured at various universities such as NYU, Harvard, Oxford, Columbia, Leiden, Melbourne, Kyoto, Hawaii, at Manoa and many others. He is an honorary professor at Melbourne University (2004-9) and a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Islamic University in Islamabad, Pakistan. In April 2005 he was awarded Doctor Honoris Causa in Humane Letters from Carroll College, Helena, Montana, USA. He has written eighteen books, the latest is The Origin of Islamic Reformism in Southeast Asia.

Values in Foreign Policy: Investigating Ideals and Interests covers all aspects of the tension between values and national priorities, with specific reference to the leading countries of today. The volume explores the effect of the enlightenment, colonialism, modernity and post-modernity in determining contemporary value systems which are often uncomfortable in their interface with each other. This book, written in accessible, non-technical language, will be of interest and benefit to policy-makers and practitioners of foreign policy, as well as the academic community. It will be equally valuable to anyone interested in international relations. Written by specialists in the field of foreign relations, this is the closest examination ever made of the impulses which drive the foreign policies of the world’s most important countries, touching on the legacies of religion, civilization, culture and history. Companion website: http://www.foreignpolicy.org.in/home/