Defence Diplomacy

By: Ni Nyoman Ayu Nikki Avalokitesvari, S.IP

Defence is the base fortress of a state to prepare itself for facing several threats
which might be occurring in the future. In realist and traditional politics perspective,
defence oftentimes correlated with military ability of a state to overcome any kind of
threats which might happen next. Hence, its very close with the term of military
power, as the coercive way to reach the goal or interest. The development of
international politics and relations between states bring a new face for maintaining
states defence. Military power wasnt be the first rifle to be shot, yet soft power like
diplomacy become the front guard. Therefore, the term defence diplomacy begins to
emerge.

In the 1990s, the dawn of a new era in international affairs, the steady rise of
complex interdependence, the growing rise of new actors on the global scene, as well
as the emergence of public diplomacy, all made room for a new conception of defence
diplomacy. An expression of network diplomacy, defence diplomacy links the
implementation of foreign policy objectives to those of the defence sector1. Professor
Du Plessis defines defence diplomacy as the use of military instrument for diplomatic
goals. In the traditional way, the use of military in diplomacy is the effort to build
deterrence towards another country by strengthening and showing off their military
capability.

However, the evolution towards complexity of international politics made the

effort to build deterrence effect to the neighborhood country become not enough if it
couldnt be said out of date in terms of defence diplomacy. Hence, Andrew Cottey
and Anthony Foster mentioned the list of activities that could be categorized as
defence diplomacy. They listed nine activities. Firstly, the states deal towards bilateral
and multilateral contacts between senior military and civilian defence officials. Second,
the appointment of defence attaches to foreign countries. Third, implementation of
training of foreign military and civilian defence personnel. Fourth, having provision of
expertise and advice on democratic control of armed forces, defence management
and military technical areas. Fifth, having initiative for contracts and exchanges
between military personnel and units as well as ship visits. Sixth, creating a placement

1Juan Emilio Cheyre. 2013. The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy. Oxford. Oxford University Press
of military or civilian personnel in partners countries defence ministries and armed
force (exchange). Seventh, adjusting the deployment of training teams. The next one
is the provision of military equipment and other material aid. In addition, the last one
is arranging the bilateral or multilateral military exercise for training purposes2.

Since 2006, the concept of defence diplomacy has been formally adopted by
ASEAN countries, including Indonesia, in order to respond the vicissitude of the
political environment and security in the region. Nowadays, the Indonesian
government has recently picked up the essence of defence diplomacy. They
highlighted diplomacy as a key means of conflict prevention. Indonesian defence
diplomacy fixates on three key agendas, they are: confidence building, harnessing
military capability, and developing indigenous defence industrial bases3. Furthermore,
for trust building, defence diplomacy involves some activities such as state visits,
consultation, dialogues, information sharing, and personal exchanges. Defence
diplomacy for harnessing military capability includes joint exercises and training,
technical assistance and joint or coordinated operation. To develop indigenous
strategic industries, defence diplomacy includes an agreement for arms sales,
technological offsets, joint ventures, and research as well as development programs4.

So far Indonesia through its Leadership on ASEAN, conducted several

Multilateral Defence Diplomacy such as: ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM),
ADMM plus, ASEAN Regional Forum, Western Pacific Naval Symposium, Shangri-La
Dialogue, Asia Pacific Roundtable, ASEAN Chiefs of Defence Forces Informal Meeting
(ACDFIM) and so many others. Moreover, in the past five years, Indonesia had
engaged 36 countries in bilateral defence diplomacy, which suggested the government
seeks to reduce the countrys security dependency and expanded its strategic
partnership. The top ten countries are the United States of America, Australia,
Singapore, Malaysia, China, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Russia, France, Brunei,
and Turkey. These represent the most important regional neighbors and the external
power that it sees as crucial security partners and potential rivals.

2 Andrew Cottey and Anthony Foster. 2004. Adelphi Paper 365: Reshaping Defense Diplomacy: New Roles for Military
Cooperation and Assistance. Oxford University Press.
3 Idil Syawfi, Aktivitas Diplomasi Pertahanan Indonesia dalam Pemenuhan Tujuan-Tujuan Pertahanan Negara: 2003-2008,

Masters thesis, University of Indonesia, 2009. P.14

4 Iis Gindarsah, Indonesias Defence Diplomacy: Harnessing The Hedging Strategy Againts Regional Uncertainties. RSIS

Working Paper, 2015