Domestic Politics and Public Influence on Foreign Policy

While Indonesian foreign policy before the departure of President Soeharto had generated many studies, the subject of its decision-making rarely became a major focus of examination.Most previous studies concentrated their analysis on the practices of Indonesian foreign policy and factors that might have shaped it. Indonesian 'domestic politics' was described as one factor that was often seen to have significantly influenced the practice of Indonesian foreign policy. However, the notion of 'domestic politics' was not in the sense of how inter-play between the executive and the legislature influenced the making and the practice of foreign policy, but was more about the influence of the executive. The role and influence of domestic politics in foreign policy was very much about the role of the president and the political dynamics taking palce inside the executive. It is this situation that has changed and explored in this book, especially Indonesia's foreign policy during the leadership of President Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati Soekarnoputri.