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Vol. 11 No. 1 (2026): Jurnal Hubungan Luar Negeri

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Submitted
June 8, 2026
Published
August 26, 2026

Global South Diplomacy and the Reconfiguration of International Order: Indonesia’s Emerging Strategic Role

https://doi.org/10.70836/avjw6g43
Thomas Sheku Marah
Nusa Putra University, Indonesia., Indonesia
Fathima Adila Shuhood

Corresponding Author(s) : Thomas Sheku Marah

thomasmarah0@gmail.com

JURNAL HUBUNGAN LUAR NEGERI, Vol. 11 No. 1 (2026): Jurnal Hubungan Luar Negeri

Abstract

The contemporary international order is characterized by geopolitical fragmentation, institutional pluralism, and demands for inclusive global governance. Existing scholarship explains Indonesia through middle-power diplomacy, strategic hedging, or ASEAN regionalism, but gives limited attention to how its diplomatic positioning produces institutional effects. This article develops the concept of adaptive governance agency to explain how a materially non-dominant state uses agenda mediation, coalition brokerage, and normative translation within asymmetrical governance structures. Employing a qualitative interpretivist design, the study analyzes 75 documents produced between 2014 and early 2026, including presidential speeches, foreign-ministry statements, ASEAN documents, G20 declarations, JETP agreements, partner-government materials, and scholarship. The analysis focuses on Indonesia’s 2022 G20 Presidency, the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, and the Just Energy Transition Partnership. The findings show that Indonesia generated bounded institutional effects through intermediary legitimacy leverage, producing agenda continuity, textual incorporation, and developmental accommodation. Indonesia therefore contributes to the incremental pluralization of international authority through negotiated institutional repositioning, although its influence remains constrained by major-power bargaining, institutional limitations, economic dependence, and domestic interests.

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Global South Diplomacy and the Reconfiguration of International Order: Indonesia’s Emerging Strategic Role. (2026). JURNAL HUBUNGAN LUAR NEGERI, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.70836/avjw6g43
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