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Following other regional powers, Indonesia announced its own interpretation of the Indo-Pacific concept in 2018. Considering Indonesia's strategic position in the Indo-Pacific, does this announcement indicate the prospects of a more active Indonesian role in the region? This article examines Indonesia's national role conception regarding the Indo-Pacific concept. Drawing from the literature on role theory, particularly on role conception and role location, and by analysing foreign policy narratives espoused by dominant actors in the Indo-Pacific region, this article finds Indonesia's articulation of the Indo-Pacific concept as an example of role location within the new Indo-Pacific structure, particularly in locating Indonesia's 'middle power' role. Dominant actors in the Indo-Pacific have generally accepted Indonesia's Indo-Pacific concept, which shows that Indonesia has managed to live up to expectations befitting of a middle power through its enactment of 'regional leader' and 'bridge-builder' roles.

Indonesia is undergoing transition and soon, a new president will be inaugurated.

How does ASEAN fare in addressing maritime security problems? This paper examines the shifting character of maritime security cooperation in Southeast Asia. In doing so, this paper looks at the outcomes of three maritime security-oriented fora that exist within the ASEAN regional framework: the ASEAN Regional Forum, the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting, and the ASEAN Maritime Forum. By compiling and analysing data on the forms and frequency of existing cooperative activities from 2003 gathered from publicly available sources, this paper finds that maritime security cooperation among ASEAN members continue to be largely dialogue-based, with few instances of practical cooperation. By comparing the three fora, this paper argues that the organisational design of these forums tends to affect the forms of cooperation. This paper concludes that despite ASEAN showing progress in adopting practical security cooperation, there remain hurdles in achieving regional maritime security.

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.