Global Maritime Fulcrum Research Articles

The Tanah-Air Concept and Indonesia’s Maritime Nation Aspiration

This article analyses the Tanah-Air (Unity of Land-Water) concept conceived by Indonesian founding fathers during its independence period and its centrality in shaping the nation’s maritime outlook. Specifically, using descriptive historical analytical approach, it would like to emphasize the role of intersection of Indonesia’s political culture of national unity (Persatuan Nasional), strategic culture of turning of the ages of Nusantara (Cakra Manggilingan), and geopolitical outlook of archipelago’s heart seas (Segara Nusantara) as the three forming pillars of the Tanah-Air concept. Based on these intersections, it underlines unique contradictions within the Tanah-Air concept between need for unity and oneness of land-sea elements of the Indonesian archipelago and the concentric Javanese philosophy on the sea and its maritime power aspirations. Based on these contradictions and insight of the ‘Tanah-Air’ concept, the article provides a pragmatic view on Indonesia’s current aspiration of moving beyond archipelagic to maritime nation as stipulated in the 2014 Global Maritime Fulcrum Doctrine and 2017 Sea Policy Whitepaper.

Opportunities and Strategies for the Blue Economy Through the Empowerment of Sumatera Coastal Communities in Supporting the Realization of the National Food Security

A strategic step on food security was directed by president to the Ministry of Defence. Coastal communities are key actors in the realization of the blue economy and are the determinants of the successful implementation of Indonesia’s policy to becoming the Global Maritime Fulcrum. There are ten provinces on Sumatera which have marine coastal areas with abundant fishery potential. However, that potential has not been fully utilized. This article aims to review opportunities and strategies in realizing the blue economy by empowering coastal communities in the Sumatra. The method was a qualitative exploratory method with SWOT and combined with SSM analysis. The data sources were obtained through secondary data from literature studies, comparisons through multi institutions data. The study found that community empowerment can be done by considering the potential of fishery resources and the community’s interest in managing the fisheries sub-sector. The development of national food barns should be focused on the Blue Economy sector and can be started through the Sumatra region. Stakeholder synergy can be integrated in fostering, supervising and mobilizing coastal communities in supporting their welfare.

Indonesian Foreign Policy Maintaining In Maritime Security Towards China’s New Silk Road

Indonesian Maritime Domain has overlapping area with one of the immense project which is China’s New Silk Road. Thus, with providing opportunities such as financial loans and infrastructure investment which are essential to realize the appealing policy of Joko Widodo’s, Global Maritime Fulcrum. However, this project doesn’t seem without implications for Indonesian Maritime Security given current unsolved problems, South China Sea Dispute, IUU fishing and Natuna island. Indonesian Foreign Policy has always been on one of the main policy which is Free and Active. Also, internal and external factors such as anti-Chinese sentiment and US-China rivalry have been determinative for Joko Widodo’s Policy as well. The researcher used the Qualitative research method with an explanatory approach in conducting the research and processing the data. The primary data document directly from ministries as an official statement and speech of leaders. Secondary data, written and visual sources such as scientific books or journals, archival sources, personal documents, internet sources, other official documents. This research concluded that Indonesian Foreign Policy is crucial in order to obtain benefits while reducing implications. Therefore, this research sought to establish how Indonesian Foreign Policy has been managing China’s New Silk Road to maintain Maritime Security of Indonesia. 
 Keywords : Foreign Policy, Maritime Security, Silk Road

Questioning Joko Widodo’s Global Maritime Fulcrum: Change and Overlap Policy

The Global Maritime Fulcrum is a strategy chosen by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), declared in 2014, consisting of 7 pillars. This program has been running for three years since Presidential Regulation Number 16 of 2017 concerning the Indonesian Maritime Policy mainly focuses on domestic pillars such as the Sea Highway. This policy did not last long when President Jokowi entered his second term to focus on the vision of Indonesia Maju, which emphasized Indonesia's position as a developing country. Using Rumelt's right strategic approach and bad strategy and changes and continuity in foreign policy, the author tries to find the extent to which the implementation of Indonesian Marine policy can become Indonesia's central foreign policy? This research found, among other things: 1) Indonesian Marine Policy authorities overlap, even though there is no clear multi-sectoral scope of work between agencies. 2) The focus on domestic needs only makes the Indonesian Maritime Policy rely on the Sea Highway as the primary focus so that it is not oriented towards an outward-looking and long-term vision. 3) The lack of commitment of President Jokowi's administration in executing the points in the Presidential Regulation. The study concludes that President Jokowi completely changed Indonesia's Maritime Policy strategy in his second term.

Indonesia’s Global Maritime Fulcrum: From Hedging to Underbalancing

This article examines why Indonesia’s vision of the Global Maritime Fulcrum (GMF) was not properly developed in accordance to its strategic response to the increased rivalry between China and the USA in the Asia-Pacific region. Although the GMF initially focussed on achieving domestic agendas, Indonesia’s implicit intention is to utilise the GMF as a hedge in order to strengthen economic cooperation with China while keeping the USA engaged in the region’s security architecture. My article seeks to go beyond the existing literature’s employment of primarily structural realist analysis to understand Indonesia’s strategic behaviour by applying a neoclassical realist approach to Indonesia’s case, which better demonstrates current conditions exhibiting how conflicting elite interests generate political discord which in turn hinders the state’s ability to extract and mobilise domestic resources, ultimately hampering Indonesia’s ability to achieve its GMF goals. Although certain threats and opportunities within the international system have manifested themselves to actively encourage the proper implementation of GMF, this strategy remains underdeveloped since the time of its launch. Neoclassical realism provides a better explanation that enhances our understanding of how Indonesia assesses and responds to its strategic environment.

Global Maritime Fulcrum: Indonesia’s Middle Power Strategy Between Belt And Road Initiatives (BRI) and Free-Open Indo Pacific (FOIP)

The purpose of this article is to correlate Indonesia’s global maritime fulcrum (GMF) as Indonesia’s middle power strategy to its responseto the two geopolitical strategies of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) of China and the Free andOpen Indo-Pacific (FOIP) of the Quad (the United States, India, Japan and Australia). This article used the process-tracing method to examine the information sourced from journal articles, news media outlets, government press releases and other resources. The article unfolds in four sections. The first explains the background of why the global maritime fulcrum was chosen as Indonesia’s middle power strategy response tothe BRI and FOIP. The second explains how Indonesia usesthe GMF as its middle power strategy. The third part explores how the middle power strategy through the GMF policy responds tothe BRI. The last part elaborates on Indonesia’s strategy when responding to the FOIP. It concludes that it is prevalent that Indonesia usesthe GMF as its middle power strategy when responding to the BRI and FOIP.

Joko Widodo’s Fleeting Maritime Ambitions: An Actor-Specific Analysis of Indonesia’s Global Maritime Fulcrum

This study seeks to understand why President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo decided to implement the Global Maritime Fulcrum (GMF) the way he did. It examines his foreign policy decisions through the actor-specific approach in foreign policy, specifically focusing on the role of the highest executive leader in making foreign policy decisions. This study seeks to understand why the GMF declined in its importance through the lens of actor-specific theory. It examines the relation between Jokowi’s psycho-milieu and his choices of foreign policy within the context of implementing the GMF vision by drawing from insights at the individual level, namely by understanding Jokowi’s political ‘self’. This study makes two observations. First, Jokowi’s inexperience in foreign policy led to a ‘hands-off’ approach in the issue areas observed. Second, his overt technocratic outlook contributed to ad-hoc decisions, which eventually impeded the development of key GMF policies. This study examines three issue areas related to the GMF: maritime policymaking, infrastructure development and diplomacy. Across these three areas, Jokowi has shown a tendency to avoid involvement in areas where he lacks expertise, which results in a haphazard implementation of the GMF.

Costs of maritime security inspection to merchant ship operations – the Indonesian shipowners’ perspective

ABSTRACT Indonesia’s aspiration to become a global maritime fulcrum lacks synergy between its maritime security and its maritime economy. This paper explores the dynamics between maritime security and maritime economy by investigating the current practices of maritime security inspections at sea and how they affect Indonesian shipowners. It also seeks to find solutions for more efficient and corruption-free maritime security inspections. To understand the Indonesian shipowners’ perspective on current practices of maritime security inspections at sea and how they impact businesses, the authors conducted an interview, a focus group discussion and a survey involving the Indonesian National Shipowners Association (INSA). From these methods, the authors found a common issue - that merchant ships operating in Indonesian waters face stoppages and demands for paying illegal fees during maritime security inspections at sea. Consequently, these inefficient and corrupt maritime security inspections are costly to Indonesian shipowners because they lower the ship’s productivity, increase voyage costs, give rise to claims related to contracts of affreightment and reduce profit. To improve efficiency and deter corrupt practices during maritime security inspections, this paper proposes a few solutions such as consolidating inspections, changing the mindset of maritime security agencies, and improving transparency and accountability.

The cult of glory: national myth and the idea of Global Maritime Fulcrum in Indonesia’s foreign policy, 2014–2019

ABSTRACT This article aims to explain the idea of Global Maritime Fulcrum (GMF) by applying the concept of national myth. In his first term as Indonesia’s president, Joko Widodo, committed to restoring the country’s status as a maritime power, based his government’s foreign policy strategy on the glorious story of the Srivijaya and Majapahit kingdoms that ruled from the seventh to sixteenth centuries ad. Existing literature on the GMF in Indonesia’s modern-day foreign policy fails to address the question of how the story has influenced the political elites in dictating foreign policy agenda. This article argues that the idea of the GMF comes from the recreation of national myth from Indonesia’s pre-modern era. Furthermore, Jokowi’s administration uses the past glory to bring about collective identity in order to restore the country’s status through the GMF framework.

Critical Analysis of Indonesia's Global Maritime Fulcrum under Joko Widodo: Problems and Challenges

The vision of the Global Maritime Fulcrum (GMF) for Indonesia not only raises national awareness but also gets international attention. Jokowi in the first term of his administration echoed this vision as the identity of his foreign policy. However, in its implementation, there are various shortcomings. As a result, the vision did not work out well. Especially during his second election as president of Indonesia, Jokowi no longer mentioned GMF as a priority policy. This paper aims to analyze the causes of the failure to implement the GMF vision in Jokowi's first term as president. Several previous studies on GMF were divided into 3 major studies, namely security studies, international cooperation, then regional and geopolitical studies. Most of these studies discuss GMF Indonesia's vision only in the international scope, such as cooperation formed with other countries, its influence on the region, geopolitical implications, and also on the perspective of threats and security. There is no research that specifically addresses the problems and challenges of the GMF. By the governmental and leadership approach in policy studies, this paper identifies the factors that have resulted in the GMF vision's lack of implementation. This article argues that uncoordinated governance, overlapping institutions, and Jokowi's lack of leadership are the main determinants of the success or failure of the GMF vision. The limitations of this study allow for further analysis of the economic perspective of GMF in subsequent studies.

The Role of Marine Security Agency (BAKAMLA) As Sea and Coast Guards in Indonesian Water Jurisdiction

The Indonesian geographical condition as an archipelagic state with abundant natural resources has put maritime security into its central issue. Several challenges are facing Indonesia’s maritime coordination. National maritime agencies are still overlapping and duplicating based on various laws and regulations. As part of the Indonesian vision to be a ‘global maritime fulcrum,’ Indonesia’s government established the Marine Security Agency (BAKAMLA). BAKAMLA aims to shift the law enforcement paradigm from a multi-agency multi-task to a single-agency multi-task. The establishment of BAKAMLA is expected to create law enforcement’s effectiveness and efficiency in Indonesia’s water jurisdiction. This study is a type of normative juridical research using a statute approach and case study approach. This study reveals that the emerging of BAKAMLA, based on Law Number 32 of 2014 concerning Marine, grants broad authority to the maritime security agency. BAKAMLA has the power to direct instant pursue, dismiss, inspect, arrest, carry, and deliver the ship to the related authorized agency for further legal proceedings. BAKAMLA also has the authority to integrated security and safety information systems. The presence of BAKAMLA does not necessarily disregard or eliminate other institutions in the same task, but as a guard to stimulate to synergize further the security and safety of Indonesia’s territorial waters under a single command unit.

Diplomasi Pertahanan Maritim Indonesia dalam Menghadapi Ancaman Keamanan Non-tradisional Upaya Mewujudkan Visi Poros Maritim Dunia

Sitting between two world’s biggest oceans and bussiest shipping lanes, Indonesia’s geographic positioning has given it a very strategic leverage. Such potential is then stressed out during the era of President Joko Widodo with his vision of Global Maritime Fulcrum. One of the crucial aspects needed for optimalization in order for this idea to be achived is security. Indonesian waters have been known to be quite hostile due to the ploriferation of non-traditional threats such as piracy, terrorism, and transnational crimes. A series of maritime defense diplomacy thus have been initiated and intensified—along with other means—to counter them, both bilateral and multilateral in form. This article would elaborate more on the manifestation and implications of those actions made, and why Indonesia specifically focused more on Its maritime defense diplomacy. Based on the findings, it is then revealed that such diplomatic move can be owed to Indonesia’s lacking defense system—making diplomacy a rational alternative to compensate for Its flaw in capacity.

The role of visual communication design to increase public literacy on the history of Spice Route in supporting Indonesia’s proposal toward UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage

Previous studies show that the process of reproduction of nationalism through the reconstruction of national history and national identity is no longer always the elite’s initiation. Democratization and globalization also provide space for people to re-interpret the ideal picture of Indonesia. The learning tradition of contemporary society in general is an interesting fundamental issue. Global connectivity and the advancement of information technology have also created new habits in acquiring knowledge. As a result, contemporary society is increasingly ignorant of history and alienated from its cultural roots. This research intends to examine the extent to which visual communication design can increase public literacy, especially about the state efforts in reconstructing national history and Indonesian identity through the cultural-historical narrative of Spice Route. In line with President Joko Widodo’s vision to position Indonesia as the global maritime fulcrum in 2045, the legacy of the spice trade route, which is also an intercultural exchange route, will be proposed by the government of Indonesia as a World Cultural Heritage to UNESCO. The methods used in this qualitative study are auto-ethnography, participant-observation, in-depth interviews, and visual communication design methods through analysis of form-content-context, both descriptive and reflective. Through the findings, visual communication design has great potentials in increasing public knowledge on Spice Route narrative, especially in encouraging curiosity and willingness to learn more about Indonesian history and cultures.

Analisa SWOT Kebijakan Poros Maritim Global di Wilayah Kepulauan Riau

Geostrategic and geopolitical positions provide opportunities for Indonesia not only as a global economic path but also an international marine security pathway. Maritime wealth is also a force in Indonesia's maritime diplomacy in the International realm. This is then the basis of the formulated mega project policy to make Indonesia a global maritime axis. But the problem is that so far the Global Maritime Fulcrum policy does not yet have a detailed blueprint for policy implementation in the national state and only focuses on macro discussions in the form of international cooperation discourse that has also not seen significant progress. . This research will try to analyze how the Global Maritime Axis policy is implemented. What are strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. at the micro level. To be more specific, this research will take a case study in Riau islands which is one of the most strategic maritime areas in Indonesia located in the strait of Malacca. By analyzing how this policy is rationed directly in the micro realm can be a record for governments in formulating better policies in the future.

Indonesian Ocean Policy: Paradigm Shift in Strengthening Ocean Governance

The Indonesian Ocean Policy (IOP) is a new milestone in managing its oceans since Indonesia ratified the UNCLOS 35 years ago. Indonesia underwent several paradigm shifts in strengthening ocean governance from 1957 to 2014. This research aims to analyse three paradigm shifts in strengthening ocean governance in Indonesia. The research revealed that the milestone of the first shift was the 1957 Djuanda Declaration, recognised by the UNCLOS in 1982, regarding the concept of an archipelago state, called the ‘ocean space paradigm.’ The second, which occurred in the Reformation period (1998-2014) was called the Ocean Development paradigm, while the third paradigm shift was after President Jokowi launched Indonesia’s vision as a Global Maritime Fulcrum. This third paradigm shift was also associated with the emergence of the IOP, which contributes to national development and pays comprehensive attention to the constellation of relations between the countries in Asia and various initiatives in the region.

Indonesia’s Perception and Strategy toward China’s OBOR Expansion: Hedging with Balancing

Indonesia has an ambitious infrastructure improvement plan because President Joko Widodo prioritizes infrastructure development for maritime sector development planning. Based on the vision of the Global Maritime Fulcrum (GMF) of Indonesia, BRI is in line with national interests in the vision of GMF. BRI is related to three of the five pillars contained in the GMF vision, namely maritime connectivity, maritime economy, and maritime culture. This article discusses Indonesia's perceptions and strategies in the BRI framework, and how Indonesia and China balance each other so that cooperation between the two countries impacts on economic growth and prosperity for Indonesia. Finally, for the Global Maritime Fulcrum-Belt and Road Initiatives (GMF-BRI) to synergize and achieve the vision set by the governments of China and Indonesia, mutual economic cooperation is needed. President Joko Widodo has demonstrated his leadership and ability to navigate Indonesia by implementing a hedging strategy with a sense of balance rather than joining in with China via bandwagoning. He showed his firmness in inviting foreign investors, especially from China, but he has strong principles in maintaining the sovereignty and dignity of this country.

One Belt One Road and Global Maritime Fulcrum: Between Contradictions and Harmony

A story of connectivity, part of the international diplomatic arena with routes, hubs, and corridors has been set as the mantra of the Belt and the Road of China. In 2013, when China’s paramount leader, Mr. Xi took a visit in mostly Central Asia and Southeast Asia, he initiatively proposed to build the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. It is then being abbreviated as OBOR (One Belt One Road) which represents China’s audacious vision to transform political region in Europe, Africa, and Asia for decades to come. The initiative absolutely calls for a greater integration of those regions into a cohesive economic area through building infrastructure, increasing cultural exchanges, and broadening trade. This centerpiece of Mr. Xi’s foreign policy has been categorized as the most important feature of the country to show its charm in offering a deeper connection and a bundle of developmental pledges towards all neighboring countries. Indonesia, the south neighboring country of China, is also included in the orbit of convergence with Jokowi’s vision and foreign politics strategies ‘to be a global maritime fulcrum.’ Both are in attempt to reinvigorate what each apprehends as their previous maritime glory. However, there are several limits of cooperation between the two sides, in particular the territorial issue in the South China Sea. Confrontations in fishing and coast guard ships, including a domineering manner of China’s foreign conduct are the current impediments to advance cooperation. Yet, it is evident that Indonesia will need Chinese investments in order to realize the Global Maritime Fulcrum. All in all, this research aims to analyze the concept of connectivity between two sides as well as to explore on how Indonesia and China could maintain their partnership to achieve each specific national goals without stepping on each other’s toes

Assessing Indonesian Maritime Strategy: Current Evolution and Future Prospects

executive summary: This essay examines the evolution of Indonesia's maritime strategy—in particular, the approach adopted under President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo known as the Global Maritime Fulcrum (GMF)—and assesses the implications for the country's strategic thinking in the future. main argumentThough the GMF is a key inflection point in the evolution of Indonesian maritime strategy and made some progress during Jokowi's first term, several key opportunities were not realized and the strategy faced severe shortcomings in the way it was defined, messaged, resourced, coordinated, and institutionalized. To fully achieve the potential of Indonesia's maritime strategy, the Indonesian government will have to take a series of measures at home and abroad, both on its own and in concert with other regional and global actors, to address lingering challenges and seize new opportunities during Jokowi's second term and beyond. Using interviews with key figures, primary and secondary sources, and an original analytical framework, this essay comprehensively assesses Indonesia's maritime strategy under Jokowi and specifies ways in which the government can manage existing challenges and further advance its maritime strategy in the Indo-Pacific region over the coming years. policy implications • Given the significance of the GMF as an inflection point in Indonesia's wider thinking on maritime issues, the Indonesian government needs to urgently address uncertainty about the GMF's future by reinforcing the clarity of its messaging and increasing policy coordination among government agencies. • Beyond rhetoric, Indonesia should focus on strategically and sustainably shoring up its maritime capabilities, including building up the country's resource base and strengthening its capacities at sea. • Even if Indonesia's maritime strategy remains focused on domestic and development issues for the foreseeable future, Jakarta can work toward a comprehensive maritime approach by building out the foreign policy aspects of it, including through work in regional and global institutions. • Apart from what Indonesia can do itself, the country could also integrate aspects of its maritime approach with those of other Indo-Pacific and global partners, including the U.S., Japan, India, and Australia.

Between Fear and Hope: Belt and Road Initiative in Southeast Asia

This paper aims to describe the reason of China to change its governance of investment mainly the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Southeast Asia. Although many countries in this region need huge investment to improve and build their infrastructure as well as infrastructure’s connectivity between countries, there is some fear involving China’s investment in the past. These are unintended consequences of China’s investment on environmental, social, and debt-trap in certain poor countries. Nevertheless, there is still hope for better Chinese investment such as consideration of local people’s aspirations and more transparency. At the regional level, the BRI can synergize with local connectivity initiatives, such as the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) and Indonesia’s Global Maritime Fulcrum, and encourage the integration of the ASEAN Economic Community. Different from the previous studies, this paper also uses the historical approach by learning the relation between China and Southeast Asian countries in the past. Our argument is Southeast Asian countries do not need to fear Chinese economic expansions based on history that China is not a political threat in the region. However, China should change the governance of BRI to accommodate the interest of people in Southeast Asian countries.

The Implementation of Indonesian Navy’s Hydrography and Oceanography Center in Supporting the Government Vision to Realize Indonesia as the Global Maritime Fulcrum

The Global Maritime Fulcrum (GMF) is a strategic idea hat is realized to ensure inter-island connectivity, development of the shipping industry and fisheries, and focus on maritime security. The implementation of Pushidrosal's tasks, roles, and functions in supporting the government's vision to realize Indonesia as GMF is inseparable from problems that result in the non-optimal role of Pushidrosal as the National Hydrographic Organization. The dominant problems that prevent Pushidrosal include limited, human resources, infrastructure facilities only located in Jakarta, vessel and equipment survey owned by Pushidrosal. This research aims to analyze the role, duties, and functions of Pushidrosal in supporting the government's vision to realize Indonesia as GMF. The research was conducted using qualitative descriptive methods which are based on the implementation theory of George C. Edwards III. The results of this study indicate that the implementation of Pushidrosal's role in supporting the government's vision to realize Indonesia as GMF is not in doubt. This means that the role and application of hydrography strongly support the government's vision of realizing Indonesia as GMF. In order to carry out the duties of the national hydrographic institution more optimally, it is necessary to increase capabilities in terms of human resources based on its qualifications in the sector of hydrographic, infrastructure, budgeting and addition of Hydrographic and Oceanographic Units are needed in three regions, namely West, Central and East, and harmonious cooperation between the Ministries and Institutions (K/L) and stakeholder. Keywords : Pushidrosal, National Hydrographic Institute, Global Maritime Fulcrum DOI: 10.7176/PPAR/10-3-06 Publication date: March 31 st 2020