{"id":55508,"date":"2025-04-09T23:56:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T23:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/?p=55508"},"modified":"2025-04-09T23:56:00","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T23:56:00","slug":"a-new-era-for-defence-policy-under-prabowo-subianto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/?p=55508","title":{"rendered":"A New Era for Defence Policy under Prabowo Subianto"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The establishment of Indonesia\u2019s National Defence Council (NDC) marks one of the most significant early policy moves under President Prabowo Subianto\u2019s leadership. In a changing regional security environment and a world increasingly shaped by geopolitical rivalry, the formation of this new council signals both ambition and urgency. But while the creation of the NDC is a good start, it comes against the backdrop of deeper challenges facing Indonesia\u2019s defence strategy \u2014 challenges that require more than institutional reshuffling.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In January 2024, a presidential decree formally established the National Defence Council. According to this decree, the NDC is a non-structural body tasked with providing the president with strategic advice on defence matters and crafting policy recommendations for safeguarding Indonesia\u2019s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national security.<\/p>\n

What makes the NDC especially relevant is its focus on geostrategy, geopolitics, and geo-economics \u2014 areas that reflect the complexity of today\u2019s security challenges. This role is larger than traditional defence concerns. It places the NDC squarely at the intersection of domestic security, regional stability, and Indonesia\u2019s positioning in a competitive global environment.<\/p>\n

Significantly, the 2024 decree replaces the older 1999 National Resilience Council (Wantannas), which leaned heavily on internal security and police involvement. The new NDC, in contrast, puts defence \u2014 and by extension, the Indonesian military (TNI) \u2014 at the core of its structure and responsibilities.<\/p>\n

The idea of an NDC isn\u2019t new. In fact, it was mandated over two decades ago by Indonesia\u2019s 2002 Law on National Defence. Yet, until Prabowo\u2019s decree, it remained unrealised. Its delayed formation points to the often-slow evolution of Indonesia\u2019s defence bureaucracy, where overlapping responsibilities, unclear mandates, and civilian-military divides complicated reform.<\/p>\n

The NDC is designed to overcome those obstacles. It functions as a strategic \u2018melting pot\u2019 \u2014 integrating military expertise with civilian perspectives. In doing so, it offers an opportunity for a more balanced and holistic defence policy process.<\/p>\n

This is essential for Prabowo\u2019s wider goals. The NDC is expected to work closely with the Ministry of Defence, especially in producing a long-overdue update of Indonesia\u2019s Defence White Paper \u2014 a key document that outlines defence policy, threat perception, and capability planning.<\/p>\n

Indonesia\u2019s last Defence White Paper was published in 2015, under President Joko Widodo (Jokowi). At the time, it framed defence policy around Jokowi\u2019s Global Maritime Fulcrum vision \u2014 a strategy that positioned Indonesia as the nexus of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.<\/p>\n

But almost a decade later, that vision has largely faded. More importantly, the 2015 white paper\u2019s threat assessment only projected to 2020, making it deeply outdated in today\u2019s vastly different global security environment.<\/p>\n

The global landscape has since changed dramatically:<\/p>\n