Commentary: Skipping UN General Assembly is bad policy for Jakarta

JOKOWI’S DISTASTE INTENDED FOR GEOPOLITICAL THEATRE

So why isn’t the Indonesian head in New York?

Jokowi’s distaste with regard to geopolitical theatre is certainly well-known, especially compared to his  predecessor, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, even though his personal appeal has opened doorways overseas, he has tended to focus on investment advantages.  

In analyst and former journalist Ben Bland’s book on the Indonesian leader, a Jakarta  official puts it well: “Jokowi’s view would be, why do I need to go to the United Nations, there’s no money there and in fact we have to pay them. ” A good inward-looking  approach not so unusual, as Dull, now at Chatham House in London, points out, in the context associated with Southeast Asia today.

Yes, in his early years, the president had good  great concentrate on the home front – without an elite background or army ties,   this individual needed to build a power base.  

But his second phrase , now backed by a  wide coalition, was supposed to be the moment to look further afield.   That will hasn’t happened. Whilst there have been creditable attempts, as with the appointments to Kyiv plus Moscow, they  possess mostly fizzled out, suggesting the output back home really did matter as much if not more than the outcome.