ABSTRACT
As Indonesia moves confidently into the last decade of the twentieth century, with its economy growing more surely, helped by a track record of social and political stability, there are distinct signs that Jakarta is adopting a higher diplomatic profile in the region and beyond. A number of changes in the external and internal dynamics of foreign policy appear to have coincided and combined to set Indonesia on a more outward-looking course. Indonesia is the largest country in Southeast Asia. With a population fast approaching 200 million, Indonesia accounts for almost half the ASEAN region's total population and is the fourth most populous country in the world. As such, Indonesia's contribution to regional stability is probably far greater than that of any other Southeast Asian state. Also, with the end of the cold war, new strategic significance has been assigned to East Asia. The focus of world affairs has moved away from the lumbering military antics of northern hemisphere superpowers, toward the economic dynamism of mid-sized regional powers in Asia. Indonesia is potentially one of these powers. This being the case, it is pertinent to search for the source and inspiration of foreign policy and suggest its possible impact on the region as a whole.
