Sukarno’s Foreign Policy reassessed

Abstract

Departing from an exposition of the diametrically exposed foreign policy aims of the Sukarno and Suharto governments, the article attempts to see Guided Democracy’s foreign policy as shaped by the anti-colonial political socialization of the nationalist elite, the ideology of the “Indonesian Revolution”, the domestic competition for power and the influences of the international system, rather than to follow the simple Western explanation of Sukarno as an anti-imperialist psychopath. The study focuses on his concept of the New Emerging Forces, the attempt to forge an international united front against the status quo and for a new world order beyond imperialism and capitalism. The failure of this venture is analyzed as the result of inherent contradictions within the strategy, as due to the weak capabilities of the alliance partners, and as a consequence of international counter-alignments. Finally an attempt is made to portray the mutual influences between the domestic policy of a transformation to the left and the foreign policy of confrontation under the Peking-Djakarta axis.