ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to look at the relevance of understanding the Indo-Pacific from the Indonesian context and also examines why Indonesia remains critical and relevant to the idea of the Indo-Pacific. It investigates the geo-political importance of Indonesia within the Southeast Asian region. The chapter focuses on the primary pillars of Indonesian foreign policy through which it seeks to leverage its own interests in a region dominated by the growing power plays between China and the United States. It looks at Indonesia's Indo-Pacific strategy where it draws on the changing regional dynamics and how Indonesia's role in its maritime outlook has been focused on the South China Sea dispute. Finally, the chapter also focuses on how the proposal by President Joko Widodo to establish Indonesia as the poros maritim dunia or the global maritime fulcrum feeds the emergence of maritime security as a pillar of Indonesia's strategic outlook.
