ABSTRACT
Indonesia's maritime interests are best viewed through the lens of the national archipelagic outlook called Wawasan Nusantara, which emphasizes the importance of Indonesia's national unity and territorial integrity. Indonesia articulates its maritime interest in the process of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) negotiation and how its rights are reflected in its domestic regulation, for example, its archipelagic regime. Indonesia is one of the archipelagic countries that had submitted various draft articles on archipelagic State at the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. Historically, the seas between and around the Indonesian islands have played a significant role in economic, political, social and defense. Indonesia's experience of harmonizing its domestic interest with international law, including UNCLOS. The UNCLOS provisions on exclusive economic zone attempts to balance the differing interests of coastal and maritime states but is silent or ambiguous on the legality of military operations in foreign exclusive economic zones.
