ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the role of Islam in Indonesian foreign policy since the fall of Suharto, especially during the presidencies of B. J. Habibie and Abdurrahman Wahid. This period witnessed the growing role of Islam in politics and policy-making during Indonesia’s difficult transition towards democracy. After the fall of President Suharto in May 1998, Islam managed to exercise and exert a significant impact on Indonesian politics. Even though the language of Islam became instrumental in the quest for legitimacy and power, the growing role of Islam in domestic politics was not followed by any significant changes in the non-religious character of Indonesian foreign policy. President Habibie, forced by the need to cultivate an image as an Islamic leader as the basis of his legitimacy, did seek to project a degree of Islamic character into foreign policy. However, that projection was severely constrained by the reality of domestic weaknesses beset and aggravated by tremendous economic and political crises at home. In that context, when the Islamic dimension in foreign policy appeared to be invoked, it was only meant to serve the legitimacy and political interests of Habibie’s regime. The substance of foreign policy, which accorded high priority to the quest for external help in facilitating economic recovery, continued to reflect the political reality of domestic weakness.
