Rebranding Indonesia: The Dynamics of Soft Power in the Democratic Era

Many governments around the world have employed soft power such as the promotion of culture, foreign policies, and political ideals. As the third largest democracy, the fourth most populated country in the world, and Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, Indonesia is no exception. A former authoritarian state until the fall of the Suharto regime in the late 1990s, Indonesia has democratised within a relatively short period of time. Along with democratisation, soft power has developed firmer roots as part of the country’s rebranding strategy. In particular, Indonesia has constructed a national brand based on the compatibility of democracy and Islam. This soft power branding was especially prominent during the decade-long administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) who promoted foreign policy initiatives largely aimed at image-building (pencitraan). Despite the importance of soft power in Indonesia’s foreign policy orientation, the academic research in this area remains relatively sparse. As such, this study seeks to fill the gap in the literature by evaluating the multiple factors that have contributed to the development of Indonesian soft power through the framework of foreign policy analysis (FPA). This thesis analyses the foreign policy-making process from the vantage point of the decision-makers and their operational environment (international and domestic settings) and how key factors related to external expectations, norm diffusion, and the role of identity have influenced political elites to craft Indonesia’s soft power in the post-authoritarian era. The main contribution of this thesis is its ability to employ an integrative framework to understand the relationship between leadership and the adoption of soft power strategies, as this has been under-researched in the existing soft power literature. Since FPA takes an actor-centric approach, this thesis evaluates Indonesia’s soft power based on the countries leadership under: B. J. Habibie, Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur), Megawati Sukarnoputri, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), and Joko Widodo (Jokowi). This research also focuses on the theoretical discussion surrounding Joseph Nye’s concept of soft power and provides a nuanced assessment of the ‘intermestic’ approach of Indonesia’s public diplomacy. Using qualitative data derived from interviews with key political elites, as well as academics, policy analysts, and diplomats, this study suggests that Indonesia’s soft power narrative is mainly centred on foreign policies and political themes used for defensive purposes and lacks a stronger engagement with the cultural aspects of soft power. As such, the country’s soft power strategies have largely targeted foreign elites through government-to-government relations rather than investing more in people-to-people interactions