Strategic Policy Roundtable
Join the team as we present research from an international project, and for an in-depth discussion on Indonesia’s evolving maritime strategy and its implications for regional security and strategic policy.
When: 14 April 2025, 3:30 - 5:30 PM
Register: Please register your interest for this in-person-only workshop via email to emirza.syailendra@anu.edu.au.
As the world’s largest archipelagic state, Indonesia faces ongoing challenges in shaping a cohesive maritime strategy. Power struggles between key actors—such as the President, maritime security agencies, and ministries—complicate strategic direction. A central debate is whether Indonesia seeks to establish itself as a maritime power or remains focused on its identity as an archipelagic state.
Competing domestic concerns and budgetary constraints often prevent well-conceived strategies from moving beyond the conceptual stage. Despite lacking a formal national maritime strategy, Indonesia’s unity as a state is closely tied to the maritime domain, as reflected in the Djuanda Declaration. However, multiple agency-led strategies leads to contradictions, reflecting diverse regional identities and policy priorities.
Under Prabowo Subianto, Indonesia has sought to secure its maritime interests amid shifting regional power dynamics, though domestic economic priorities frequently overshadow defence and foreign policy concerns.
This roundtable presents research findings on three key themes:
1. The Challenges of Conceptualizing Indonesia’s Maritime Strategy
2. Domestic Politics and Indonesia’s Maritime Security Outlook
3. Indonesia’s Maritime Repositioning in a Changing Regional Order
The discussion will also explore implications for Australian policymakers and regional stability.
The project team's preliminary findings on Indonesia’s maritime strategy have been featured in CSIS DC AMTI (here), the domestic politics of the strategy in The Diplomat (here), and Indonesia-Australia security cooperation in the Lowy Interpreter (here).
Speakers
- Emirza Adi Syailendra – Research Fellow, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, ANU; Co-Chief Investigator, SPGP23 project on 'Indonesia’s Evolving Maritime Strategy' (DRN 202021-0828).
- Evelyn Goh – Shedden Professor of Strategic Policy Studies, ANU; Co-Chief Investigator, SPGP23 project on 'Indonesia’s Evolving Maritime Strategy' (DRN 202021-0828).
- I Made Andi Arsana – Lecturer, Department of Geodetic Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada.
- Edna Pattisina – Co-Founder, Indonesia Strategic and Defence Studies (ISDS).
- Aristyo R. Darmawan – Lecturer in International Law, Universitas Indonesia; Ph.D. Scholar, ANU.
- Monty Pounder – Ph.D. Scholar, Political and Social Change Department, ANU Coral Bell School.