Indonesia's Maritime Strategy: Lofty Aspirations Without the Means to Achieve Them
Abstract
Indonesia's recent maritime strategy, articulated in the Global Maritime Fulcrum (GMF) in 2014 by newly-elected President Joko Widodo, describes an aspirational set of strategic maritime interests in support of a greater Indonesian leadership role in Southeast Asia. Given these strategic interests, the ongoing transformation and modernization of the Indonesian Navy (to field the Minimum Essential Force MEF by 2024) represents a significant strategy misalignment between ends and means. An analysis of the economic means available to acquire the MEF demonstrates that the MEF force structure is unaffordable. Comparing capabilities to mission requirements highlights the MEFs shortfall in capabilities to achieve Indonesia's strategic maritime interests. Finally, the MEF undermines existing regional cooperation frameworks because it is a destabilizing influence, it is inadequate at deterring China's territorial assertiveness, and it reduces the potential effectiveness of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in addressing regional issues. The author concludes with several recommendations for how the United States might support Indonesia in addressing these challenges. However, Indonesia will need to make difficult decisions about what it can do and what it should do to resolve this strategic misalignment.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 25, 2018
- Accession Number
- AD1077871
Entities
People
- Joseph Girard
Organizations
- Naval War College