ABSTRACT
A region-specific identity enables, entitles, expands or limits the regional context of a state’s concept of security and foreign policy. The Indo-Pacific canvas is not a new template for strategic posturing; rather, a reflection of its geopolitical reality as conceptualized by the architects of an independent Indonesia’s foreign policy. Mohammad Hatta laid down a three-fold characterisation of Indonesia’s pan-Indo-Pacific geopolitical reality – archipelagic destiny, two-ocean discourse and Indonesia’s centrality in the inter-oceanic communications. The Indian Ocean Tsunami of December 2004 had jolted Indonesia and highlighted Indonesia’s vulnerability originating not only in the Pacific but also in the Indian Ocean. Indonesia’s strategic behaviour within the new concentric circle will be guided by its sense of geopolitical entitlement and a claim for regional leadership. Indonesian policy makers are increasingly aware of the growing geoeconomic significance of the Indian Ocean in the Twenty-First century.
