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Indonesia's “Intermestic” Public Diplomacy: Features and Future
Author(s) -
Huijgh Ellen
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
politics and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.259
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1747-1346
pISSN - 1555-5623
DOI - 10.1111/polp.12221
Subject(s) - public diplomacy , diplomacy , political science , narrative , democracy , globe , political economy , development economics , economy , sociology , economics , law , medicine , linguistics , philosophy , politics , ophthalmology
Over the past decade, public diplomacy has come to find a comfortable home in the Indo‐Pacific region, offering a range of unique public diplomacy experiences that are deserving of further attention. This article examines the key features and recent developments of Indonesia's public diplomacy. It sets out potential future paths against the background of the latest evolutions in the field, which are relevant to regional peers and others across the globe. Although a relative latecomer to the field, Indonesia started off innovatively with an “intermestic” (a blend of domestic and international) and niche narrative public diplomacy, cultivating its international image in the coexistence of democracy, Islam, and modernity. But Indonesia's public diplomacy is at risk and facing stagnation and isolation today. The study argues that Indonesia must continue to develop and deepen its integrative approach to public diplomacy's structure, strategy, narrative, and domestic dimension. Doing so is necessary if Indonesia is to meet the requirements of twenty‐first century diplomacy trends and remain a credible model in the Indo‐Pacific region and beyond.