Soundings Papers: Pathway to Indonesia’s maritime future: the role of maritime policy, doctrine and strategy

Indonesia realises that a substantial, strategic transformation is taking place in the 21st century. The centre-of-gravity of the geo-economic and geo-political world is shifting towards Asia. In this dynamic, seaborne trading has become ever more vital to support economic development. Indonesia, as a maritime country with a strategic location, has an unrivalled opportunity to contribute to the global economy while enhancing its own economic growth and development. This paper will describe how Indonesia might achieve its desired maritime future. It is divided into five parts. The paper will look specifically at maritime power and strategy from an Indonesian perspective, before describing the content of a comprehensive Indonesian maritime doctrine and the concept for a wide-ranging Indonesian maritime strategy.