Jakarta Indonesia needs to identify current issues in foreign policy to prepare for the next decade, such as for the pandemic, climate change, geopolitics, geoeconomics, and digital literacy.

“If you look at the issues in Indonesia alone, the pandemic impacts directly the issues of common humanity, how we deal with transnational threats,” political researcher from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Prof. Dewi Fortuna Anwar, stated at a talk show titled “Embracing the Next Decade: Identifying Global Forces and Issues; Indonesian Foreign Policy must Wrestle Within the Next 10 Years” here on Wednesday.

Regarding climate change, she emphasized the need for the Indonesian foreign policy think tanks and communities to think about industrial development and economic growth that directly impact the planet.

“How we mitigate the risks of climate change will continue to be the main agenda,” she said while also highlighting how transportation and communication technologies, including the digital realm, have changed humanity and the way of life. According to Anwar, the presence of digital technology has made communications during the pandemic easier, but concurrently, it also has negative impacts, such as cyberattacks, fake news, and the worsening polarization in geopolitics.

There is also a tendency in only focusing on the superpower countries, such as the US and China, and how Indonesia responds to it and its impact on the Indo-pacific, Anwar explained, noting that foreign policy communities need to pay attention to those policies that also matter, such as that of India, Japan, and the ASEAN.

“Do not let the superpowers monopolize the narrative, because what happened in the G20, shows clearly that the middle powers (countries), those who work with the centripetal (uniting; not dividing because of differences) forces, actually can have an important role to play, and I hope that continues to evolve our foreign policy,” she said.

Policies need to be evidence-based, which involve not only stakeholders or policymakers but also the people, Anwar added.

“Politics are people, like (Foreign Affairs Minister) Retno Marsudi said, ‘it is not just countries making policy, but also people, and personal relations do matter’,” she remarked.

Source: Antara News