Comparing Indonesia's Foreign Policy under President Jokowi and President Yudhoyono

Analyzing Indonesia's foreign policy under the last two presidents, we can come to a conclusion that in terms of strengthening the role and image of Indonesia in the presence of international stages; President Yudhoyono clearly has bigger influence. Using the slogan 'Thousand Friends, Zero Enemy' as his foreign policy platform, President Yudhoyono tried to focus his foreign policy by practicing peace diplomacy as a way to revive and secure Indonesia's image which has been marred from the increasing amount of terrorism, secessionism, violation of human rights and corruption issue that put the country in such unfavorable position internationally. Dino Patti Djalal, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Policy in a discussion in Jakarta (2010) conveyed that we should be grateful that during the reign of President Yudhoyono, Indonesia has a good image, profile and position in the international world. He claimed that it was very difficult for him to do political and economic lobbies since Indonesia was considered a 'sick country' among ASEAN countries due to the internal conflicts back in his days as the Head of International Relation in 2000.

The effort of President Yudhoyono in the process of strengthening Indonesia's role and image globally shows that his main priority in foreign policy is getting international engagement3. Under this, he often placed foreign policy on the high profile level, considering it vital and putting every attention possible to it. President Yudhoyono tried to project Indonesia's internationalism that has been impaired due to the cascade of domestic problems during the early reformation era as stated before. His internationalism is shown by his active participation in all diplomatic activities, emphasizing Indonesia's presence in international stage. This resulted to the appointment of Indonesia to become the Cho-Chair at High Level Panel of Eminent Person of Post-2015 Development Agenda, Leader of ASEAN in 2011, Leader of APEC in 2013, Host of KTM WTO in 2013, and the executant of Bali Democratic Forum regular meeting in Bali since 2008.

President Yudhoyono used the concept of 'navigating a turbulent ocean', then adopted constructive approach to interact with global and regional actor as as the implementation of this term. This energetic perspective looked ahead to see Indonesia as a peacemaker, confidence builder, problem solver, and the bridge builder of cou. Not only that, while interacting with other countries and in the process of promoting peace, the concept of 'Thousand Friends, Zero Enemy' also showed that Indonesia can work with any values, even if the country is considered to be the binary opposition of Indonesia. This also showed in Indonesia's help for democratization in Myanmar, peace settlement in Cambodia and in the Southern Philippines, potential conflicts management in the South China Sea, and many more.

From participating actively in diplomatic agendas, alongside with the help Indonesia offered to other countries in need, Indonesia then started getting noticeable respect regionally and internationally. Indonesia's presence in the international stage became significantly impactful and influencal. President Yudhoyono had successed in promoting Indonesia's image as a democratic, and open, confident, moderate, tolerant, and outward looking country which compelled to what he had aspired through his foreign policies.

In the other hand, President Jokowi's approach in foreign policy is noticeably different. Rather than focusing on international relation, participating in various global politic agenda to show Indonesia's impact, securing the image and position of Indonesia worldwide as President Yudhoyono aimed on previously, diplomacy in his reign are done solely as an effort to reach domestic growth. While President Yudhoyono holds the approach of internationalism, President Jokowi holds the entire opposite of it by using pro-people diplomacy; locating domestic needs as the main focus of Indonesia's foreign policy.

President Jokowi's pro-people diplomacy is arranged also with the doctrine of independent and active principles (prinsip bebas aktif), blending of the two principle but with different strategical emphasizes. While President Yudhoyono's diplomacy stressed on Indonesia's existence in the international stage, pro-people diplomacy accentuated on advancing all diplomatic activities as an effort to lead the country's economic growth. Indonesian Minister for Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi accumulated the pro-people foreign policy approach focusing on three priorities, which are (1) to maintain Indonesia's sovereignty; (2) to enhance the security of Indonesian citizens; and (3) to intensify economic diplomacy.