ABSTRACT
It has been argued in Chapter 3 that Indonesian foreign policy since the Republic’s independence was preoccupied with pressing domestic and international priorities of maintaining internal unity and securing international legality. On the question of internal unity, the main line of contention centred on the debate on the nature of state identity between the secular-nationalists (kebangsaan) and the Islamists. While a formula of compromise was reached in the form of Pancasila, the debate was not extended to the realm of foreign policy. In foreign policy, a different kind of domestic division, primarily between kebangsaan and leftist groups, became a major factor that greatly influenced the initial formulation of Indonesia’s international position. In resisting the pressure from the left that Indonesia should align itself with the Soviet bloc, the kebangsaan group favoured a free and active formula for foreign policy. Within that context, Islamic political forces were also faced with a reality that obliged them to define Indonesia’s international position and identity in terms of the emerging bipolar character of post-war international politics. In other words, Islam did not exercise identifiable influence upon the international outlook of the Republic, nor did it manifest in the basis and content of foreign policy.
