Indonesia's role in ASEAN: A case of incomplete and sectorial leadership

Abstract

Indonesia is often regarded as the natural leader of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in light of its geographical dimensions, large population, strategic position and natural resources. The country has felt entitled to a position of leadership and has generally been recognized by the other ASEAN members as first among equals. While the de facto leadership of Indonesia has traditionally been accepted as conventional wisdom, little attention has been given to the extent to which Jakarta has actually succeeded in exercising leadership in ASEAN and how its attempt to do so has been perceived by the other Southeast Asian states. The paper explores this question by focusing on Indonesia's ability to provide international public goods in the areas of security and economics, engage in conflict management and promote institution building. It argues that the country has sought to establish a stable and autonomous security environment, to conduct conflict meditation efforts in the Cambodian conflict and the South China Sea disputes, and to develop institutional mechanisms to promote security, democracy and human rights among other issues. Still, Indonesia's leadership in ASEAN has been incomplete due to resistance from some members to its preference for an autonomous regional order and in recent years a democratic form of domestic governance. Its leadership has so far also been limited to the political and security spheres, leaving other sectors, like the economy, to others.

Keywords:

• leadership
• institutionalism
• Indonesia
• ASEAN
• Southeast Asia
• regional autonomy

Acknowledgements

This paper was first presented at the Workshop on ‘Regional leadership, norms and diversity: Comparing the Asia-Pacific with Europe’, organized by Waseda University and funded by the Global Re-ordering: Evolution through European Networks (GR:EEN), Tokyo, January 2013.

Note

Notes

1. The original ASEAN members were Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines. Brunei joined ASEAN in 1986, Vietnam in 1995, Laos and Myanmar in 1997, and Cambodia in 1999.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ralf Emmers

Dr Ralf Emmers is associate professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore.