Foreign Policy Talks

Three candidates have been submitted their application to run as the new leader of Indonesia in 2024-2029. Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka is one of the three candidates. This episode will cover the summary of Prabowo-Gibran's Visions and Missions on Indonesia's international relationships.

The short summary is only based from the document that has been shared publicly from their campaign team. Follow @foreignpolicytalks on Instagram to ask more questions.

Listen to my conversation with two recipient of  Schwarzman Scholarship, Ryan Kueh and Hans Sebastian on the importance to understand China more in the future. Considering the consequential influence that China has to global politics and economy, these two guests have some thoughts on the ways China has been misunderstood. 

For your information, Schwarzman Scholars supports up to 200 Scholars annually from the U.S., China, and around the world for a one-year master’s in global affairs at Beijing’s Tsinghua University — ranked first in Asia as an indispensable base for China’s political, business, and technological leadership.

Scholars chosen for this highly selective program will live in Beijing for a year of study and cultural immersion — attending lectures, traveling around the region, and developing a better understanding of China. 

Please enjoy the Year-End Review of Southeast Asia in 2022 from the perspectives of Foreign Policy Talks members (specifically from our unit "Southeast Asian Society of Foreign Affairs (SASFA)". Coming from different countries with various expertise, we provide to you our candid thoughts on interesting moments that happened this year in the region!

Please enjoy the Year-End Review of Our World in 2022 from the perspectives of Foreign Policy Talks members. Coming from different countries with various expertise, we provide to you our candid thoughts on interesting moments that happened this year! 

Happy Europe Day!

In celebration of Europe Day, Foreign Policy Talks Podcast collaborates with the European Union (EU) diplomatic missions in Jakarta to bring a series of special episode podcast interviews to our loyal listeners. In this episode, H.E. Igor Driesmans, the EU Ambassador to ASEAN shared his views on the future of regional peace and unity, the implementation of EU's sustainability efforts to ASEAN, the Global Gateway initiative, the EU's stances on the Myanmar crisis, and many more!

Listen now!Available on Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts

Happy Europe Day! 

In celebration of Europe Day, Foreign Policy Talks Podcast collaborates with the European Union (EU) diplomatic missions in Jakarta to bring a series of special episode podcast interviews to our loyal listeners. For this special episode, we had the opportunity to have a discussion with H.E. Maria João Lopes-Cardoso, Ambassador of Portugal to Indonesia, the Philippines and Brunei Darussalam. We explored an interesting discussion on the shared cultural values between Portugal and Indonesia, Portugal-Indonesia historic bilateral partnership, the ocean economy, sports, energy transition and Portugal's role in promoting peace and unity. Enjoy!

Available on Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts

Happy Europe Day! 

In celebration of Europe Day, Foreign Policy Talks Podcast collaborates with the European Union (EU) diplomatic missions in Jakarta to bring a series of special episode podcast interviews to our loyal listeners. For this special episode, we put a spotlight on a number of important topics with H. E. Dan Adrian Balanescu, Ambassador of Romania to Indonesia. We had meaningful talks regarding the trust in diplomacy amid geopolitical shock, sovereignty and territorial integrity, ambitious energy transition and how to enhance tourism cooperation between Indonesia-Romania. Listen now!

 Available on Spotify, Google Podcasts and Apple Podcasts

Happy Europe Day!

In celebration of Europe Day, Foreign Policy Talks Podcast collaborates with the European Union (EU) diplomatic missions in Jakarta to bring a series of special episode podcast interviews to our loyal listeners. For this special episode, we are delighted to have a conversation with H.E. Vincent Piket, Ambassador of the EU to Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam. We discussed the EU's ambitious efforts in the EU-Indonesia relations, the EU's support for the G20 Indonesian Presidency, the EU's contribution to the worldwide economic recovery, and of course this episode shares the EU's views regarding the Russia-Ukraine war. Enjoy the conversation!

Available on Spotify, Google Podcasts and Apple Podcasts

We have listened a lot of distinct views on Ukraine-Russia war, and the big question is how to find the best solutions to solve the crisis immediately The spillover impacts of Ukraine-Russia war is everywhere, not only in Europe, but across the globe. Not only in the political sphere, but also economy, and even the state of a multilateral forum like the G20. Indonesia as the G20 President is pushed to take a part in resolving the crisis, with its diplomatic and political resources the group has. 

Could Indonesia as G20 President help de-escalate the Russia-Ukraine war? I talked to Professor Hikmahanto Juwana, Indonesia's leading international law expert and Chancellor of Universitas Jenderal Achmad Yani to explore that question. Check it out!

In this episode, I talked to Carina Joe, a Senior Scientist at the University of Oxford (AstraZeneca vaccine). Carina shared her experiences on how did she get involved in the vaccine invention and production We explored further on the issue of covid mutation, vaccine nationalism, and Indonesia’s vision to develop a vaccine manufacturing hub. Enjoy!

India was abstain at the United Nations votes over Ukraine-Russia crisis. There is a speculation that India is in a difficult position to against Russia’s attack to Ukraine. In this episode, I talked to Ambassador Gurjit Singh, former Indian Ambassador to Germany, Indonesia, Ethiopia, ASEAN and the African Union on why India abstained when the world condemned Russia, the same topic that Amb Gurjit Singh wrote recently at the Jakarta Post.

Listen to my conversation with Radityo Dharmaputra, PhD Student & Junior Research Fellow in Political Science at the University of Tartu, Estonia and Lecturer of Russia-East European Studies and Foreign Policy Analysis at Airlangga University on why do many Indonesians back Russia's position in the case of Ukraine crisis. Since the first attack of Russia to Ukraine, many Indonesians also experts offered their sympathy to Putin's decision as it is reasonable to protect their national security, why is it so? What makes them have this stance? 

I talked to Dr. Hana Josticova, from Centre for Russian, European and Eurasian Studies based in the United Kingdom on Putin's decision to attack Ukraine. With all of his justification, will he get what he wants at the end? Enjoy! 

Russia has launched a devastating attack on Ukraine, a European democracy of 44 million people, with military forces bombing some cities in the Ukrainian territory. The US, Western allies, and some countries in Asia have imposed sanctions to Putin, Russia and its oligarchs and isolating them from international financial institutions and economic activities etc. I talked to Dr. Kim Beng Phar, a Visiting Fellow to Harvard University and former Director of Political and Security Community at ASEAN on the impacts of this Ukraine-Russia crisis, the responses of major countries to the aggression and how it would move forward in the coming time. One important question explored at the end of our conversation, will ASEAN matter on this crisis? Enjoy!

I am delighted to talk to Eunwoo Lee from South Korea's Ministry of National Defense. We discussed around the recent developments on the Korean Peninsula and how would the upcoming Presidential Election in South Korea affect the future outlook of Inter-Korean relations. Enjoy our conversation! 

In this episode, I talked with Ivy Phan, a Malaysian Youtuber and Content Creator on her experience living in Indonesia for many years. We discussed around her perception on Indonesia's socio-political situation and even try to compare the nation's democracy with Malaysia. Has she ever experienced any racial or religious discrimination in Indonesia? Find out here and enjoy our conversation!

Listen to my conversations with Ambassador Siti Nugraha Mauludiah, Advisor to Indonesia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs on Socio-culture and Diaspora. We discussed about the definition of Indonesian diaspora, the government’s strategy to manage them and the role that diaspora can play as the agents of Indonesia’s economic diplomacy. Some new initiatives to manage Indonesian diaspora as the national assets are revealed in this talk. Enjoy!

Our world is now facing multiple crisis and there has been a lot of criticisms towards the effectiveness of our multilateral platform to respond the crisis. Hear my conversations with Sundeep Waslekar, President of Strategic Foresight Group who recently wrote an essay on  his thoughts about global governance that published in the New England Journal of Public Policy. You can find it by Googling his name with New England Journal of Public Policy and download it without cost. We discussed on one critical question: should we reinvent our multilateral order? how?

I am talking to Adam Gadd, a Research Associate at Swedish Defence University who recently wrote an article at The Diplomat on why South Korea fell behind Japan in Southeast Asia. This episode gives you more discussion on things made Japan is more trusted as security partner for countries in the region and particularly explore how has the relationships with Japan and South Korea influenced the Southeast Asia’s position towards China. Enjoy!

Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI) is recently conducting the ASEAN-China Survey 2021. The year 2021 is a special year for ASEAN and China as they commemorate the 30th anniversary of ASEAN China – Dialogue Relations that was established in 1991. In light of this, FPCI recognizes the importance of continuing the study. The survey is titled “ASEAN – China Survey 2021: Assessing Three Decades of Partnership.”

This year’s survey aims not only to assess Southeast Asian people’s perspectives on the ASEAN-China relations in various areas; political-security, geopolitical dynamics, trade, economy, connectivity, socio-culture, cooperation on COVID-19, but also to identify key trends, challenges, and prospects of cooperation after 1 year of the COVID-19 pandemic and onwards. The respondents are coming from 10 ASEAN nationals with wide-ranging background. 

Listen to my conversation with the Project Lead of this ASEAN-China Survey 2021, Calvin Khoe. Enjoy!

The COP-26 Summit in Glasgow finally ended with a climate pact with a set of carbon market rules associated to Article 6 of Paris Agreement. At the last stage of the COP-26 negotiation, India backed by China and other major coal-producing nations proposed a revision to change “phased out” into “phased down” of coal use in the documents. Thus, the COP-26 received a variety of responses including disappointment from many nations.

What was the outcome of COP-26 Glasgow and how about Indonesia’s climate commitment? Hear my conversations withKuki Soejachmoen, Co-founder and Executive Director of Indonesia Research Institute for Decarbonization (IRID) and experienced COP negotiator.

G20 was concluded last week in Rome, Italy with a 20-page declaration. So many areas covered and agreed in the declaration. This episode covers the priorities and policy stances of Indonesia at the G20 Summit and what does it mean for Indonesia’s G20 Presidency next year. Were there any implications of the China’s Xi Jin Ping and Russia’s Putin absence from the G20 summit?

To talk about this, I am delighted to having Dr. Muhammad Hadianto, Deputy Director at Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs of Indonesia and Advisor to Vice Minister of Trade, also part of the G20 sherpa team who is in charge for the G20 Indonesian Presidency in 2022. Enjoy our conversation!

In this episode, I talked to Phuong Vu, a Phd Candidate on Politics at the University of Otago in New Zealand about Vietnam’s debt burden to China and its political risks. An interesting fact, Vietnam has long been suspicious of the BRI and to date no new infrastructure project in Vietnam has been officially labelled as part of the BRI in the public domain. Why is it so?Against those risks, why does Vietnam continue to seek funding from China? Enjoy the conversation!

Fumio Kishida has won a race to lead Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), putting him on course to become the next prime minister. He won against the high-profile Minister Taro Kono and also Sanae Takaichi. Mr Kishida will succeed Yoshihide Suga, who decided to step down after just one year in office. In this episode, I talked with Professor Kotaro Tamura, Former Senator and Parliamentary Secretary of cabinet office in charge of economic and fiscal policy, who played a key role in elaborating Abenomics during Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's first administration. He is also an adjunct professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at National University of Singapore; Chairman of Japan Strategic Initiative and Asia fellow at the Milken Institute on Kishida’s foreign policy outlook.

We discussed Japan’s future US- China policy and Korean Peninsula affairs under Kishida administration. Political expert, Takao Toshikawa, editor of the political newsletter Tokyo Inside line labelled Kishida as Mr status quo, I asked Prof. Kotaro whether he agrees on this label. At the end of our talk, we conversed on the outlook of ASEAN-Japan relationships. Enjoy the episode!

China has submitted a formal letter of application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership or CPTPP. I asked Dr. Deborah Elms, the Founder and Executive Director of the Asian Trade Centre and Vice Chair of the Asia Business Trade Association (ABTA) on the possibility of current members of the CPTPP agree to allow China joining the group. I also discussed with her about the most rationale objectives behind China’s application to join the CPTPP from Beijing’s perspective and whether it would trigger the U.S. under Biden’s presidency to take a deeper look at CPTPP again. Enjoy the talk!

I spoke to Mutti Anggitta, a security analyst and nuclear specialist at the Laboratorium Indonesia 2045 on AUKUS and Indonesia’s position towards the security pact. We explored from the strategic views on Indonesia’s readiness to this possible security risk and the ideal stance Indonesia must have in the middle of intensifying China-Western allies military tension. Enjoy the conversation!

In this episode, I spoke to Natalie Sambhi, the Founder and Executive Director of Verve Research, and Non-Resident Fellow at Brookings. We talked about the most concerning aspects of the AUKUS as a security deal to Jakarta and the possible implication of AUKUS such as a more intense “strategic insecurity” with countries in the region, particularly with China.

Are we going to see China retaliate with the improvements of its military capability? Will AUKUS bother Canberra’s desire to expand its regional outreach, particularly in elevating its defence engagement and relationships with regional partners including ASEAN countries? I explore those questions with her. Check it out!

In this episode, I was speaking with Dr. Barbara Yoxon, Lecturer in International Politics at the Lancaster University on the recent AUKUS security alliance between the United States, United Kingdom and Australia. what are the key objectives of this AUKUS? And why does the pact provides the nuclear-powered submarines to Australia?Will it create more intense“security dilemma”, particularly with China?What would be the implications of AUKUS at the end geopolitically? I explored those questions with her. Check it out!

In this episode, I conversed with Dr. Siwage Dharma Negara, the Senior Fellow and Co-coordinator of Indonesia Studies Programme at ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute. We discussed how has the COVID-19 pandemic affects Indonesia-China relationships. Apart from that, we deeply talked about Belt and Road Initiatives (BRI) cooperation and how does President Jokowi and his administration deal with the straining rivalry between China and the United States.

In this episode, I talked to Sebastian Strangio, Southeast Asia editor of The Diplomat and author of “In the Dragon’s Shadow: Southeast Asia in the Chinese Century” book. We were trying to assess the Southeast Asia-China relationship by linking the COVID-19 pandemic with the current behaviors of ASEAN states towards China. Some questions raised during the interview such as whether Sebastian see any cautiousness felt by Southeast Asian leaders to the rising China’s influence in the region and also which countries, he thinks is the best in addressing the Beijing-Washington rivalry.

At the end of our conversation, I asked his thoughts on Indonesia’s stance in engaging China and how will Jakarta-Beijing move forward in the nearer future under the Jokowi’s administration. Moreover, I was a bit naughty and asked him whether China has brought any negative influences to Southeast Asia’s democracies.

As the strategic contest between China and the United States remain influencing the state of geopolitical dynamic, many region is affected including Southeast Asia. Scholars argue that ASEAN will be the ultimate “winner” not Washington and not Beijing—as ASEAN states will apply “strategic hedging,” with a non-alignment position. Yet, some other authors view that ASEAN states have been trapped in the influence competition between two major powers.

Let’s get the views of Dr. Benjamin Ho, the Assistant Professor and Deputy Coordinator of International Relations Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore about the position of ASEAN in the middle of Bejing and Washington Rivalry. Find out also his thoughts on Indonesia's foreign policy towards the major power rivalry.

Recently, our world is seeing two critical summits, the G7 Summit hosted by Cornwall in the United Kingdom and Putin-Biden Summit in Geneva. Talking about the G7 Summit, what does the G7 Summit mean to world diplomacy? Is it simply the sign of G7 forum resilience or, more than that, a renewed commitment of democratic nations to reinvigorate the liberal world order? What are the major threats perceived by the G7 countries today? Are we seeing any strategy of the G7 countries in facing China’s growing political and economic influence? Moreover, from the Putin-Biden Summit, will we see a significant difference in the future Russia-U.S. relationship? 

President Biden was very loudly and proudly stated that America is Back! He affirmed this commitment by convening some influential leaders’ meetings among the US global friends and alliance since he sits in the White House. Has the United States truly come back? 

I discussed those questions with Prof. David Dunn, Professor in International Politics at the Department of Political Science and International Studies in the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom

I interviewed Dr. Siswo Pramono, Director General/Head of the Policy Analysis and Development  Agency (PADA) at the Indonesia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA). to discuss the impacts of the global COVID-19 crisis on Indonesia’s foreign policy.  As the centre for the gravity of geopolitics and the geopolitical map has been shifted to Asia, also accelerated by this pandemic, Indonesia needs to gain the benefits of the shifting. Amidst the straining geopolitical contest among major powers and the COVID-19 pandemic, China appeared with a narrative of being a global leader in fighting the pandemic with its vaccine diplomacy and rising political influences. Is Indonesia pulled to China’s COVID-19 influence?

We were talking about one of Indonesia’s foreign policy priorities, economic diplomacy. I see a changing focus of Indonesia’s foreign economic policy from the first term of President Jokowi’s administration to the second term. The first term was very much associating Indonesia’s economic diplomacy with its maritime fulcrum goals. However, in the second term, primarily driven to have more investment and trade partnerships, have there been any changes in Indonesia’s economic diplomacy direction? What are the main challenges for Indonesia’s economic diplomacy at the post-pandemic time?

In this episode, I talked to Rocky Intan, a Researcher at the Department of International Relations at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Jakarta. We discussed about one of Indonesia’s foreign policy priorities, economic diplomacy. Rocky wrote in 2019 that Indonesia needs to recalibrate its conception of economic diplomacy, does he still think the same way?

Moreover, what President Jokowi instructed to Indonesia’s envoys are most likely referred to as commercial diplomacy than economic diplomacy. What is the difference? President Jokowi’s administration is also often associated with protectionism policy with many domestic considerations and narratives like “stand on its own feet”, “hate foreign products”, etc. Is Indonesia trapped in a paradox between liberalising its markets to foreign partners and protecting domestic products? What are the main challenges for Indonesia’s economic diplomacy so far?

I explored those questions during this podcast interview. Check it out on Spotify, Google Podcast and Apple Podcast.