Middle countries are considered to be more vulnerable in crisis management because of their marginal position in the international politics. In the pandemic, middle power diplomacy is expected to fill the void left by developed countries so that they focus on multilateral efforts. This paper argues that Indonesia exercised middle power diplomacy in 2020. This diplomacy is carried out with a commitment to encourage global cooperation in resolving the pandemic through multilateral efforts. The multilateral initiatives are carried out as part of ‘good international citizenship’, and also serves as the mechanism to voice Indonesian aspirations, aspirations related to humanity, efforts to create global norms, and efforts to reach international treaties. This paper is a qualitative research, which is based on a literature study in the form of an official statement from the Government of Indonesia through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is supported by secondary sources.
In the second period of President Joko Widodo's government, Indonesia strengthened its cooperative relations with the United States and China through various agreements in the economy and other global issues. Indonesia's decision is influenced by many factors, both internal and external. According to Michael Brecher, in the process of foreign policy formulation, the mass media have a rol to convey and advocate for the general public regarding the government's stance towards certain issues. Through this research, the research team wanted to find out whether the mass media in Indonesia support Indonesia's foreign policy in responding to the rivalry between the United States and China? To answer this question, the research team used the foreign policy formulation system (Michael Brecher) and the framing analysis (Robert N. Entman). The study was carried out on 15 selected news stories from Kompas, The Jakarta Post, and Tempo. Based on the research conducted, the research team concludes that the news conveyed by the mass media in Indonesia shows their support for Indonesia's foreign policy, especially its neutral stance in the rivalry between the United States and China.
Populism usually appears when there is dissatisfaction towards the system, and creates two different camps seen as polarization, “the elite” versus “the people.” Those camps are a result of the appeal of anti-elite. Indonesian populist leader also uses the strategy to appeal a large support of citizens, but the strategy must be understood as a part of pragmatist leadership. This paper argues that the utilization of populism in Indonesia is more motivated by pragmatic reasons rather than fundamental reasons. This pragmatic reason can be seen through inconsistent statement in the leadership which, at first, supports populist claim but tends to be different in reality. Political leaders in Indonesia try to strive for a progress as well as to seek a compromise and a support from various groups, including those labeled as elite by the populists themselves. Through an observation of secondary documents from journals and news articles during the latest presidential campaign between Jokowi and Prabowo in 2019, it is concluded that all characteristics of populist strategy have been used pragmatically by both leaders. It is applied to attract more supports in order to respect the political constraints and to work with the system.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.