Since October 2014, many have watched Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s success in implementing his grassroots policies of anti-corruption, poverty reduction, better healthcare and improved infrastructure. Early in his term, President Jokowi declared that he would make his country a global maritime fulcrum, yet Indonesia’s foreign policy does not often make global headlines.

The AIIA’s Tarisa Yasin spoke to Perth USAsia Centre Research Fellow Natalie Sambhi  before her presentation to the AIIA for ACT on “Indonesia Foreign Policy Under Jokowi: What Happened to the Global Maritime Fulcrum” on 5 July. Sambhi explains the key tenets of Jokowi’s foreign policy and what has happened to the global maritime fulcrum vision. She also touches upon the Philippines vs China arbitration over the South China Sea issue and says it remains to be seen if Philippines President Duterte will take a cooperative or a hard-line approach towards China after the decision is handed down today.

Natalie Sambhi is a research fellow at the Perth USAsia Centre where she publishes on Indonesian foreign and defence policy issues as well as Southeast Asian security. She was previously President of the AIIA ACT Branch from 2015-16, an analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) from 2012 to 2016 and managing editor of ASPI’s blog, The Strategist. She has worked at the Department of Defence and University of Canberra. She speaks Indonesian.

Interviewed by: Tarisa Yasin

Filmed by: Annabel McGilvray