Narrating south-south cooperation : a comparative study of Indonesia's foreign policy in Africa under SBY (2004- 2014) and Jokowi (2014-2024)

Abstract

Within the framework of Indonesia's cooperation with the African continent, the South-South Cooperation (SSC) narrative has been a consistent foreign policy instrument since the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference. However, Indonesia's relations with African countries have fluctuated over time. From the era of President Sukarno to President Joko Widodo, there have been changes in foreign policy orientation, especially during the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and Joko Widodo (Jokowi) administrations. Indonesia under SBY sought to revitalize the spirit of the Bandung Conference through multilateral approaches and the promotion of democracy in various international forums. In contrast, President Joko Widodo emphasized a bilateral approach that focused on economic diplomacy. This research aims to explain the changes in Indonesia's foreign policy behavior towards Africa in the South-South Cooperation narrative by comparing the two leaders. To answer this question, this study uses the theoretical frameworks of Actor-Specific Theory. This theory emphasizes the role of a leader’s leadership style, orientation and psychomilieu in shaping foreign policy behavior. This research argues that changes in Indonesia's foreign policy behavior in narrating SSC in Africa are influenced by actor-specific factors, particularly the leadership style, leadership orientation, and psycho-milieu of the head of state. Specifically, leaders with a normative leadership style, context-driven leadership orientation, and thinker-type psycho-milieu tend to produce foreign policy narratives based on values, norms, and global solidarity, as reflected in SBY's approach. In contrast, leaders with a pragmatic leadership style, goal-driven orientation, and doer-type psycho-milieu tend to produce pragmatic, result-oriented foreign policy narratives that emphasize concrete outcomes and domestic benefits, as observed under Jokowi's administration. This research uses a qualitative approach with narrative analysis techniques, document studies, and utilizes primary and secondary data such as state speeches, foreign policy documents, and official government publications. The main contribution of this research is to provide a deeper understanding of the dynamics of Indonesia's foreign policy in the context of South-South Cooperation and highlight the importance of leadership style in determining the direction of Indonesia's engagement with African countries in the framework of SouthSouth Cooperation.