In the Post New Order period, there was a significant development in Indonesia. The issuance of the Law on TNI in 2004, has since guided how the Indonesian military operates in dealing with external and internal security threats and curbed its socio-political role, which is associated with the New Order regime.However, it has not explicitly touched upon the implementation of defence diplomacy, which has significantly increased within the last decade. Hence, the article aims to analyse the development of Indonesia's Defence Diplomacy in the Post New Order period, particularly in the context of joint exercises. This article attempts to answer two key questions: 'How has Indonesia developed its defence diplomacy as part of its overall diplomacy?' and 'What factors account for different practices undertaken in Indonesia's defence diplomacy?' The article qualitatively scrutinises the development of Indonesia's defence diplomacy activities of joint exercises by comparing two bilateral exercises with the major powers, the Garuda Shield and the Sharp Knife. In supporting the analysis, the article relies on the combination of interviews and observations performed during fieldwork from July 2018 to July 2019. The article is critical since it offers an alternative approach to studying Indonesia's defence diplomacy.

The International Military Education and Training (IMET), has given Indonesian military personnel access to U.S. doctrine and tactics. However, due to the dynamics and changes in priorities of interest between the U.S. and Indonesia, the IMET programme has experienced a critical period, when for over a decade, from 1992 to 2005, the U.S. Congress imposed a ban on the programme for the Indonesian military. The country also adopted an embargo towards Indonesia in responding to the "Santa Cruz" incident in East Timor in 1991.Not only had the embargo limited defence cooperation with the United States, but also with its alliance countries. During the "IMET Ban" period, access to U.S. professional military education was significantly reduced. The ban fully restricted Indonesian military's development since the country relied on the American military's doctrines and tactics. The ban further disrupted the U.S.-Indonesia defence relations. Therefore, through desk research, this article uses process tracing approach to qualitatively examine the dynamic of the US-Indonesia defence relations during the "IMET Ban" period. The lessons learned during this period in the article are important to help the current Trump and Widodo administrations navigate their bilateral defence relations.1 Frega Ferdinand Wenas Inkiriwang has worked as a lecturer at the Indonesian Defence University (IDU) since 2013. As a graduate of the Indonesian Military Academy, he spent most of his careers serving with the Indonesian Army Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad). He also commanded the 330 th Para Raider Battalion where he wrote a military history book on the unit. Frega has achieved numerous scholarships. He earned the Australian Defence Scholarship to finish his master's degree in international relations at Macquarie University. He also received the IMET scholarship to accomplish his Command and General Staff College along with his second master's, Master of Military Arts and Science specializing in Strategic Studies. Additionally, Frega has attended various seminars and international conferences, including the Jakarta International Defence Dialogue and the 2013 APEC CEO Summit representing selected top notch officers. Frega has written numerous articles in a myriad of media outlets, like newspapers, magazines and journals. He has also contributed in book chapters published by the Royal Canadian Defence Academy Press. Currently, Frega is a PhD candidate at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) under the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) scholarship. 2 The author wishes to acknowledge support from the Indonesian Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP), Indonesia and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), United Kingdom which has allowed to contribute this article. This article has been adapted from a chapter of a thesis submitted to fulfil the requirement of the Master of Military Arts and Science. 3 The article uses the term of the "IMET Ban" Period or the "lost decade" to represent the period w...

Defence diplomacy has gained attention in the past decades. Hence, Indonesia has also developed its defence diplomacy for achieving its strategic interests. In Indonesia’s defence diplomacy, bilateral forms have dominated the practice of joint exercises with its defence partners. However, under the Yudhoyono administration in 2014, Indonesia hosted its first multilateral joint exercise, the Multilateral Naval Exercise Komodo (MNEK), which aimed at facilitating multilateral engagement with greater international partners. This exercise was continued by the Widodo administration as a biannual event in the following years. Since this multilateral exercise has rarely been studied, this article attempts to qualitatively examine how this exercise has developed and contributed to Indonesia’s multilateral defence diplomacy. To support the analysis, this article relies on a combination of documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews, including with numerous participants of past MNEK exercises in 2014, 2016, and 2018.