Great, But Unfocused: Indonesian Assessments of U.S. Power

Part of Capacity and Resolve: Foreign Assessments of U.S. Power

Indonesians, like citizens of other Southeast Asian nations, perceive American power to be in decline relative to a rising China, yet they generally believe the United States will retain its role as the world’s preeminent power for the next several decades. More salient are Indonesian concerns about U.S. engagement—that is, that the U.S. focus on Southeast Asia is inconsistent, whether the United States is powerful or not. The uneven attention paid by Washington generates unvoiced fears of abandonment and, to a lesser degree, entrapment.

Even though it is the fourth-largest country in the world and the largest in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) by a factor of more than two, Indonesia feels caught between the United States and China. Like citizens of all Southeast Asian nations, Indonesians emphasize that they do not want to be asked to choose between the United States and China. Unlike other some others in Southeast Asian countries, however, Indonesian elites have a clear preference for American as opposed to Chinese preeminence. Like its ASEAN neighbors, Indonesia does not want to “be like” China; in other words, China has little soft power in ASEAN countries. However, China’s economic dynamism and pragmatic approach to regional economic integration make it a useful and necessary economic partner.