Prabowo's Solo Diplomacy Erodes Indonesia's Institutions — SkimNews
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- Prabowo Subianto runs Indonesian foreign policy through personal relationships and his own travel schedule rather than through the Foreign Ministry, a style analysts increasingly describe as "personalistic"
- Since taking office, Prabowo has visited dozens of countries, met Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin repeatedly, pushed Jakarta into BRICS, signed a sweeping trade-security framework with Washington, and offered mediation from Gaza to the aftermath of Iran strikes
- Foreign Minister Sugiono and career diplomats at Jakarta's Pejambon complex handle follow-up work, while direction and timing are set by the president alone, often on short notice
- An illustrative anecdote: mid-trip abroad, Prabowo decided to add a stop in a neighboring country; the host government got short notice and the visit never happened because there was no time to prepare
- Critics have flagged the awkwardness of the word "alliance" surfacing in agreements with Washington given Indonesia's foreign-policy law mandating nonalignment, the contradiction the author traces to big commitments made in the moment rather than worked out in advance
- Author Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat, director of the China-Indonesia Desk at CELIOS, identifies three costs of the style: credibility (unpredictable visits accumulate into a reputation other capitals hedge against), coordination (reconciling deepening US ties, China cooperation, BRICS membership, and Middle East mediation), and institutional atrophy (a foreign service reduced to cleanup crew that "will not survive him")
Why it matters: Indonesia's diplomatic momentum now depends on one president's stamina and personal relationships rather than on the 280-million-person state's institutions. The contradiction between deepening Washington ties, BRICS membership, and the country's nonalignment law risks confusing partners and eroding the "free and active" doctrine Prabowo claims to champion — and his successor inherits a hollowed-out foreign service.
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