This thesis is divided into seven chapters. Following this literature review and background chapter, Chapter Two discusses the role of Islam in Indonesian domestic politics. This chapter also traces the role of Muslim groups in the colonialist era and their power struggle vis-à-vis the secular national movement in Indonesia’s formative years. It addresses the role of Islam during the time of Sukarno and Suharto, the efforts of Muslims to deal with Suharto’s harsh policy towards Islam, and Suharto’s response to Muslims’ attempts to create a ‘Cultural Islam’ movement. This section also investigates the way in which Suharto’s Islamic policy and the Cultural Islam movement still influences Indonesian Muslim politics in the present day. It also examines the role played by Islamic political parties and Muslim groups in domestic politics during Indonesia’s democratic era.
29
Chapter Three investigates the extent to which Islam—as a political and moral force— influences Indonesian foreign policy. This chapter seeks to provide a snapshot of the role of Islam in Indonesia’s post-Suharto foreign policy before moving on in subsequent chapters to discuss specific case studies. It begins by outlining the basic tenets of Indonesia’s foreign policy and the state’s interpretation of international issues of concern to Muslims in Indonesia. For example, it looks at how issues relating to the plight of the Muslim people in Kosovo and Palestine fit into the framework of the country’s foreign policy. Also discussed is the influence of democratisation in Indonesian foreign policy including the government’s response to Muslim groups’ aspirations on international issues relevant to them. The necessity of restoring Indonesia’s international image in the aftermath of the Bali bombings and the need to eliminate the world’s misperception of the Muslim world including Indonesia have prompted the inclusion of Islam in the country’s public diplomacy. Subsequently, this chapter also examines the projection of Indonesia’s identity as the world’s largest democratic Muslim country. This image has formed Indonesia’s new international activism regarding Islam, which is intended to depict the country as a role model for other Muslim states with regard to the intersection of Islam, democracy and modernity.
Chapters Four to Six constitute the case studies which represent the main analytical body of the thesis. Chapter Four examines the government’s policy towards the Iranian nuclear program when the country was a non permanent member of the UNSC in the period of 2007 to 2008. This chapter analyses the reasons the government changed its policy from initially supporting UNSC resolution 1747 to abstaining on UNSC resolution 1803. This chapter explores whether pressure from Muslim groups, which were buttressed by members of parliament, was a determining factor in shifting that policy. This also requires an investigation into the foreign policy decision making process which may have included pressures from major Western countries sponsoring resolutions against the Iranian nuclear programme.
Chapter Five reveals the Indonesian government’s response to Muslim groups’ aspirations towards the recognition of Kosovo’s independence. The extent to which the government responded to Muslim concerns over Kosovo and debates between the Indonesian government and Muslim groups on that matter will be examined. Also investigated in this part is the reaction and position of the Indonesian government prior to and immediately
30
following the declaration of Kosovo’s independence. It will be revealed how the two opposite sides (the government of Indonesia and the proponents of the recognition of Kosovo’s independence) used a concept of national interest to justify their respective arguments. To provide a broader perspective, the chapter also discusses other Muslim countries’ reactions and positions with regard to Kosovo’s independence, as there has not been a single response from the Muslim world.
Chapter Six looks at the Indonesian government’s policy toward Palestinian statehood. This requires consideration of Indonesia’s policy toward the Palestinian question under the Sukarno and Suharto regimes as well the administrations of the post-Suharto era. By doing so, the author intends to offer a comparative perspective on the regimes’ policies on Palestinian statehood in the pre- and post-democratic era and to offer a general understanding of the impact of democratisation on the government’s response to Muslim groups’ aspirations on the Palestinian cause. As Palestinian statehood cannot be separated from discussions of Israel, Indonesia’s policy of non-recognition toward Israel in the pre- and post-Suharto eras is also discussed. The chapter also treats as a sub-case the Gaza wars which allow description of the interplay between the Indonesian government and Muslim groups in a more specific context.
Finally, Chapter Seven brings together the overall discussion by presenting a general conclusion on the role of Islam in contemporary Indonesian foreign policy and providing more specific conclusions which arise from the three case studies. The drawing of these conclusions is based on empirical evidence regarding the interplay between the government of Indonesia and Muslim groups on international issues which have become of concern within significant parts of Muslim society.
31
CHAPTER TWO
ISLAM AND INDONESIAN DOMESTIC POLITICS