ASEAN Beat

Is Indonesia Turning Away From ASEAN Under Jokowi?

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ASEAN Beat

Is Indonesia Turning Away From ASEAN Under Jokowi?

Early signs point to a far more bilateral, domestic-oriented foreign policy

Barely two months after Indonesian president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo took office in a historic election, he has already stirred fears among some at home and abroad that his country, a traditional leader in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), may be looking beyond the organization in its foreign policy just as the bloc prepares to further its regional integration agenda in 2015.

Statements from Jokowi and his advisers, along with early actions under his tenure, suggest a more bilateral, domestic-oriented foreign policy relative to his predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, with a diminished but still important role for ASEAN.

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