UNAIR NEWS – The Juanda Declaration in 1967 was able to put Indonesia in a strong position in the international maritime scene. Decades later, during Jokowi’s first term of leadership, the concept of Global Maritime Fulcrum (GMF) was formulated to show Indonesia’s commitment to developing the maritime sector. However, in the second period now, it seems that Indonesia’s maritime conditions have decreased.
As a response, the Department of International Relations collaborated with Caksa Global Strategic Studies (CSGS) to organize an international webinar entitled Beyond Indonesia’s Global Matirime Fulcrum: Prospects and Challenges. There were Prof. Pankaj Jha, Joko Susanto, M.Sc., and Ibrahim Khalilul Rohman, Ph.D., in a webinar held on Wednesday evening, December 16, 2020.
One of the speakers, Joko Susanto, M.Sc. assessed that GMF Indonesia is experiencing from booming to bounce pattern. The lecturer of International Relations at Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) explained that the booming condition occurred when President Joko Widodo introduced the policy of maritime axis for the first time and received a good response from the public. However, Indonesia’s maritime condition is experiencing a bounce due to several issues related to corruption scandals, questions regarding the future of global maritime, and other issues.
“Why has GMF decreased in performance? Of course, because there are deficiencies in the structural imperative, “he explained in a webinar moderated by Irfa Puspitasari, MA.
One of these shortcomings, according to Joko, is that Mahan’s theory is not properly fulfilled or implemented. The theory states that the root strength of a country’s maritime sector lies in the strength of the global side of the economy. Although Indonesia has begun to develop the application of this theory, Joko sees that economic export data show figures that are not very supportive of maritime policies and are still inferior to two neighboring countries, Malaysia and Thailand.
“One of the countries that has successfully applied the Mahan’s theory is the USA. We can see that they are transforming rapidly, as in the 19th century they did not really understand the maritime world, but now they are actually one of the countries that have sea power, “he explained.
Even so, the Executive Director of Emerging Indonesia Project (EIP) explained that there are several ‘homework’ that the government needs to do to strengthen maritime policies. Such as building ideas about revitalizing fundamental structures and increasing GMF as a blue economy.
Author: Nikmatus Sholikhah
Editor: Feri Fenoria
