NEWS
2024.07.18
【Report】 The 70th AJI Frontier Seminar was held! Dr. Trissia WIJAYA, presented “Pivotal Power of Small States to Save the International Liberal Economic Order: The Case of Indonesia”
The 70th AJI Frontier Seminar was held online on Tuesday, July 9. In this seminar, Dr. Trissia Wijaya, a Senior Researcher at Ritsumeikan Asia-Japan Research Organization, gave a presentation titled “Pivotal Power of Small States to Save the International Liberal Economic Order: The Case of Indonesia.”
Dr. Wijaya specializes in international political economy, and her research focuses on the positive role that small and medium-sized states play in shaping world order in the new geopolitical economy, which is largely driven by competition among the great powers, including but not limited to the US-China trade war. She gave a fascinating presentation on the case of Indonesia and how Indonesia has played an important role in maintaining and developing a liberal international economic order, especially since the 2010s through the ever-evolving free trade agreement strategies.
First, she pointed out that the analysis of the world order in the academic field of international political economy is centered on competition among the great powers such as the United States and China, and the role of small states in the international community has been overlooked. She has also pointed out that studies on small states have been premised on a risk-averse perspective in relations with major powers. However, Dr. Wijaya emphasized that a smaller country like Indonesia has sought risk-taking activities and unintentionally contributed to maintaining and developing the liberal international economic order.
Indeed, Indonesia has participated in ASEAN and several regional free trade agreement frameworks, such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF). While doing so, Indonesia managed to leverage these existing frameworks to pursue its national development agenda while mitigating geopolitical risks through different strategic alignments with other mid-level powers.
Indonesia is the world’s largest country in terms of nickel production. Nickel is one of the critical minerals required for batteries used in electric vehicles (EVs). The Indonesian government banned the export of raw nickel and imposed the domestic development of processing and refining industries to generate local jobs and boost value-added exports. At the same time, they have promoted policies to increase the adoption of EV vehicles. However, such policies to protect domestic industries have been faced with the increasing securitization of trade by the US which restricted the import of nickel products linked to Chinese companies. In the wake of this trade war, Indonesia has sought to navigate these great powers’ influence by actively participating and reshaping the framework of international free trade agreements, while protecting its own industries, thereby ensuring its unique position in the liberal international economic order.
Dr. Wijaya’s presentation was followed by a Q&A, in which the participants discussed a wide range of issues, including Indonesia's history since the Asian currency crisis and the Lehman shock as the background for implementing the current economic strategy described above, the concept of a “liberal international economic order” and its difference from political liberalism, and Indonesia’s important role in the world economy in the future. Dr. Wijaya responded well to each question, and the participants had a lively discussion.
Dr. Trissia WIJAYA making her presentation
Please visit the following link for previous AJI Frontier Seminars:
https://en.ritsumei.ac.jp/research/aji/young_researcher/seminar/archive/