Suchergebnisse

Introduction -- Regional integration and nationalism in theoretical perspectives -- Nationalists and regional integration strategy -- Indonesian nationalism and foreign economic policy -- Indonesia in the ASEAN free trade agreement (AFTA) -- Contemporary indonesian perceptions of AFTA -- Conclusion

This paper analyses the perspectives of Indonesian state and non-state actors towards their country's increasing tendency to use bilateral trade agreements (BTAs) as part of its foreign economic policy. Unlike the other original members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Indonesian government has been rather slow in pursuing a BTA policy with non-ASEAN member countries. Nevertheless, due to the proliferation of BTAs in other ASEAN countries' foreign economic policies, it was inevitable that Indonesia would pursue similar agreements with its non-ASEAN major trading partners. Despite this, it remains questionable whether Indonesia's participation in such trade agreements will produce such positive results for Indonesian economy. The attitude of the majority of Indonesian domestic constituents to date remains sceptical to this type of agreement. This is not only because BTAs create specific obligations on a range of issues, from trade and investment regimes, this trade strategy also involves deeper and more comprehensive commitments that those agreed at the multilateral level. (Pac Rev/DÜI)

The main focus of this article is to provide an analysis of the involvements of the Indonesian non-state actors in ASEAN. More specifically, it aims to analyse the contemporary attitude of Indonesian non-state actors towards ASEAN and its activities. The main argument here is that despite a certain indifference towards the Association, the majority of Indonesian non-state actors still positively value the existence of ASEAN. However, if the Association wishes to gain wider public support in the future, it should abandon the exclusive manner in which it conducts its operations. This, amongst other things, will enable the greater participation of non-state actors in the Associations main activities and decision-making processes. In the more democratic country that Indonesia is today, domestic non-state actors will continue to demand a more open and transparent ASEAN. (Contemp Southeast Asia/DÜI)