Reforming Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry: Ideas, Organization and Leadership

Abstract

More than a decade after Indonesias democratic transition, the effects of domestic politics on the conduct of Indonesias foreign policy continue to attract scholarly attention. Relatively less attention, however, has been given to the foreign ministry, the principal institutional actor responsible for foreign policy formulation and management of Indonesias external relations. This article argues that this neglect is a mistake: institutional changes within the foreign ministry, together with the emergence of new ideas, have played a key role in transforming the countrys foreign policy. It was principally within the foreign ministry that significant attempts were made to change Indonesias national self-image so that it better reflected the values of the reformasi experience. This article explores how democratic norms have been internalized in both the organization of the foreign policy bureaucracy and in the conceptualization of Indonesias external identity.