Richard Javad Heydarian is a Manila-based academic, columnist and author
August 23, 2022
Later this year, Chinese and Russian leaders Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin are expected to attend the G20 summit on the resort island of Bali, Indonesia. Although they have pushed for the exclusion of Russia from the power grouping, leaders from major western nations are also set to attend the high-level meeting in November. By all accounts, Indonesia is determined to host the first face-to-face meeting between the leaders of China, Russia and the US since the Ukraine war began in February.
Since taking over the rotational presidency of the G20 grouping, Indonesia has underscored its commitment to play a proactive role in promoting global peace and stability. In late June, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, affectionately known as “Jokowi”, embarked on an unprecedented “peace mission” to Europe, where he met his counterparts in Kyiv and Moscow.
During his exchanges with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Jokowi promised to pass on his message to Mr Putin and, accordingly, expressed his commitment to help establish contact between the two leaders in order to ensure a move towards “a peace settlement and an open dialogue”. In Moscow, Jokowi reportedly secured “guarantees” on the safe passage of agricultural products “not only from Russia but also from Ukraine".
Jokowi’s “peace mission” to Europe received relatively scant attention in western media, especially since Indonesia’s mediation efforts have yet to produce a major breakthrough. But what’s clear is that the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation and third-largest democracy has steadily emerged as a global force in the 21st century. In the coming decades, the South-East Asian country is well-placed to claim its place of pride among rising Asian superpowers of China and India.
Spanning 4,700 kilometres from the Indian Ocean to the Western Pacific, Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelagic nation, with 17,000 islands. Yet, since its independence in the mid-20th century, Indonesia, home to 275 million people, has often struggled to attract global attention commensurate to its demographic size and geopolitical heft.
Penajam North Paser regency in East Kalimantan will soon be home to Indonesia's new capital city. Unsplash
Onions on sale at a market in East Kalimantan. Unsplash
'Ground zero' of Indonesia's planned new capital, which would house the Presidential Palace and other government buildings. Photo: Syahruddin
Balikpapan city in East Kalimantan. Unsplash
Motorboats at a harbour in Penajam North Paser regency. Photo: Syahruddin
A harbour in Penajam North Paser regency. Visitors can take motorboats or ferry vessels to reach the regency from Balikpapan, a major city in Indonesia's East Kalimantan province. Photo: Syahruddin
The central district of Penajam North Paser, one of the two sites of Indonesia's planned 'green capital'. Photo: Syahruddin
The Penajam North Paser regency. Photo: Syahruddin
See wild Borneo orangutans being rehabilitated in East Kalimantan. Unsplash
Former Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru once described Indonesia, along with other South-East Asian countries, as “Coca-Cola governments”, because they were seen as too dependent on the West and often lacked both strategic autonomy and international influence to truly matter. Accordingly, Indonesia was placed in the lowly “Category C” of India’s foreign policy priorities.
Decades later, leading South-East Asia expert Donald Emmerson lamented Indonesia’s marginal position in America’s regional strategic priorities, arguing “the significance of a country and the attention it receives are separate matters". After all, much smaller nations such as Vietnam or Cambodia absorbed much of the West’s strategic focus throughout the twilight decades of the 20th century.
A former Dutch colony, Indonesia was also largely ignored by major European powers, which were more focused on Russia, China and former colonies in East Asia. Thanks to bitter Cold War-era rifts, China lacked even formal bilateral ties with Indonesia for more than two decades.
For its part, Indonesia remained largely focused on strengthening the Association of South-East Asian Nations, a regional body that aimed to prevent the domination of the region by any major power.
In recent years, however, Indonesia has rapidly transformed into an indispensable power in the Indo-Pacific. To begin with, it boasts a $1 trillion GDP, with a booming digital economy that has produced unicorns and world-class start-ups such as Gojek, a multi-service platform that could soon rival FinTech giants in China and the West.
Under Jokowi, Indonesia is also exploring a transformative national development programme, which includes the construction of a new capital city called Nusantara, with a price tag of $31 billion, as well as a shift to high value-added industries, including the establishment of a Tesla regional EV battery production hub. Its pursuit of a knowledge-based economy has gone hand-in-hand with a comprehensive rural development programme, which has significantly reduced poverty and enhanced productivity across Indonesia’s provinces.
To boost economic growth, Indonesia is also overseeing multi-billion-dollar public infrastructure projects, including the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed-rail project, in tandem with leading development partners such as China and Japan. Before the end of this century, the country is expected to become the fourth-largest economy in the world, just behind China, India and the US. And with growing economic power comes rapid military modernisation.
After winning his second term in office in the 2019 election, Jokowi has embarked on an ambitious programme to strengthen the country’s defensive capabilities. The Indonesian government has allocated up to $125bn to beef up the naval and air forces, including $22bn to acquire Rafale and F15 fighters from the West. The ultimate goal of this military build-up is to transform Indonesia into what Jokowi has described as a "global maritime fulcrum", namely an autonomous and consequential power at the heart of the Indo-Pacific.
Amid the intensifying Cold War in the mid-20th century, Mohammad Hatta, one of Indonesia’s founding fathers, vowed to pursue a foreign policy that “reserves the right to decide our own destiny and fight for our own goal, which is independence for the whole of Indonesia". He advocated for a dynamic, non-aligned strategic orientation akin “rowing between two reefs”.
Joko Widodo, Indonesia's president. Bloomberg
Over the next half-a-century, Hatta’s successors have sought to follow in his footsteps with significant degrees of success. Unlike neighbouring states such as the Philippines, Indonesia has consistently shunned overt alliances with any major power in favour of enhancing its own strategic autonomy. To this end, Indonesia assiduously pursued a balanced relationship with rival superpowers, with co-operation and competition defined on a case-to-case basis without choosing sides.
Thanks to its "multi-vector" foreign policy, Indonesia has managed to maintain strong defence and strategic co-operation with the US, China, Russia and Japan throughout recent decades. Whenever threatened by one major power, Indonesia sought assistance from the other. This is particularly in the context of Indonesia’s maritime disputes with China in the so-called North Natuna Sea, the intersection of the southern tip of the South China Sea and waters off the coast of Natuna Islands.
While maintaining robust economic and strategic dialogue with Beijing, the Jokowi administration has welcomed Russian energy investments in the disputed areas as well as large-scale military drills with the US and Japan. For its part, Indonesia has also adopted an uncompromising stance and beefed up its military presence in the disputed areas.
In recent years, Indonesia has also emerged as a proactive mediator in international conflicts, assisting in the peace process negotiations from the Cambodia-Thailand border disputes to Palestine and Afghanistan to Mindanao and Myanmar. Jakarta's deft management of delicate relations with rival powers as well as growing profile as an international mediator is also a function of its superb diplomatic tradition.
Throughout the past decade, star Indonesian diplomats such as Marty Natalegawa, Dino Djalal, and Retno Marsudi have tirelessly advocated for an inclusive and stable regional order in the Indo-Pacific, while maintaining close personal relations with counterparts from major global powers. By all indications, Indonesia is steadily transforming from a seemingly marginal regional player into an indispensable force in Asian geopolitical affairs, thanks to its booming economy, modernising military and adept diplomacy. And over the next decades, it is well-poised to join the ranks of no less than emerging superpowers of the 21st century.
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister. "We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know. “All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.” It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins. Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement. The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Their favorite quote: ‘we rise by lifting others’ by Robert Ingersoll
Stamp duty timeline
December 2014: Former UK finance minister George Osbourne reforms stamp duty, replacing the slab system with a blended rate scheme, with the top rate increasing to 12 per cent from 10 per cent:
Up to £125,000 - 0%; £125,000 to £250,000 – 2%; £250,000 to £925,000 – 5%; £925,000 to £1.5m: 10%; Over £1.5m – 12%
April 2016: New 3% surcharge applied to any buy-to-let properties or additional homes purchased.
July 2020: Rishi Sunak unveils SDLT holiday, with no tax to pay on the first £500,000, with buyers saving up to £15,000.
March 2021: Mr Sunak decides the fate of SDLT holiday at his March 3 budget, with expectations he will extend the perk unti June.
April 2021: 2% SDLT surcharge added to property transactions made by overseas buyers.
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened. He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia. Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”. Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
Day 1, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance
Moment of the day Dimuth Karunaratne had batted with plenty of pluck, and no little skill, in getting to within seven runs of a first-day century. Then, while he ran what he thought was a comfortable single to mid-on, his batting partner Dinesh Chandimal opted to stay at home. The opener was run out by the length of the pitch.
Stat of the day – 1 One six was hit on Day 1. The boundary was only breached 18 times in total over the course of the 90 overs. When it did arrive, the lone six was a thing of beauty, as Niroshan Dickwella effortlessly clipped Mohammed Amir over the square-leg boundary.
The verdict Three wickets down at lunch, on a featherbed wicket having won the toss, and Sri Lanka’s fragile confidence must have been waning. Then Karunaratne and Chandimal's alliance of precisely 100 gave them a foothold in the match. Dickwella’s free-spirited strokeplay meant the Sri Lankans were handily placed at 227-4 at the close.
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
