Jurnal Ilmiah Hubungan Internasional

Festival Indonesia: Answer to Indonesian Public Diplomacy Towards Russian Citizens

Achmad Ismail — 2022-11-29

As the Asia Rising phenomenon becomes more evident, Russia needs to look again to Asia for growth and strategic cooperation through the Far East Policy. Apart from traditional Far Eastern countries such as China, Japan, and South Korea, Indonesia as one of the Asian countries recently with a prominent future also does not waste Russia's market and strategic location that issued the policy. Indonesia respectfully maintains good relations with Russia to get more benefits and economic possibilities such as from the tourism sector. The Indonesian Festival is one of the instruments imposed and utilized by the Indonesian government to achieve the nation's economic interests. This article aims to explain that the "Indonesian Festival" event is a form of public diplomacy and Indonesian economic diplomacy, especially in the tourism sector. This article uses public diplomacy as an analytical tool accompanied by qualitative research methods. This article concludes that the presence of the "Indonesian Festival" as a form of public diplomacy has a positive impact on Indonesia's positive image towards Russian citizens, which leads to an increase in Russian tourists to Indonesia, an increase in "sister city" cooperation and cooperation in other fields.

Keywords: Public Diplomacy, Far East Policy, Festival Indonesia, Tourism

Diaspora Indonesia dan Usaha Mikro, Kecil, dan Menengah di Indonesia

Aknolt Kristian Pakpahan — 2022-11-29

The world is facing the biggest health crisis in the 21st century which is the COVID-19 pandemic. International trade activities are disrupted due to the total lockdown to stop the spread of this pandemic outbreak. International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and OECD showed the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic when economic growth will be decreased -4,9% to -6%. This also has an impact on the Indonesian economic sector which is dominated by the presence of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), namely the decline in export performance in line with the contraction of economic growth and purchasing power in various countries. Indonesia needs help not only from inside the country and from international cooperation with other countries, but the involvement of the entire community wherever they are is needed to jointly resolve this pandemic. Indonesian diaspora community that is scattered in various parts of the world can be one of the solutions. This research focuses on how does the Indonesian diaspora community that scattered across the United States and Germany help Indonesia’s MSMEs by taking advantage of foreign markets. Through collaboration between representatives of the Government of Indonesia offices in the United States and Germany with Indonesian diaspora groups, various assistances were found such as informing Indonesia's potential MSME products, bridging meetings with business actors abroad, and conducting promotional activities to increase the export potential of Indonesian MSME products.

Normalisasi Hubungan Israel dan Arab dalam Konteks Israel-Palestina

Anna Zakiah Derajat — 2022-11-29

The normalization of relations between Israel and Arabs in the current decade is one of the obstacles in the struggle for Palestinian independence. In 2020, Donald Trump has mediated between four Arab countries to agree on normalizing relations with Israel. Behind this agreement, there are various interests of related Arab countries, Israel and the US in the Middle East region. This study aims to explain how the normalization of relations between Israel and the Arab state under the Trump administration and its impact on issues in the Middle East region, as well as the struggle for Palestinian independence using a constructivist perspective. The research
method used is qualitative research with a literature study approach. Based on the results of data analysis, the normalization of relations between Israel and the Arab state is carried out based on elements of identity, interest, intention, and values, so that the US is considered to play Israel as a political tool in the Middle East.

Keywords: Constructivist, Normalization of relationships, Palestinian independence, Donald Trump's political policies, The interest of the 2020 United States presidential election.

Debt-Trap Diplomacy: How China's Capital Expansion Transforms Into Debt Trouble for African Countries

Faris Al-Fadhat — 2022-11-29

Since the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was initiated in 2013, China under Xi Jinping has continued to expand its capital to various countries. This expansion is part of China’s strategy to shore up its position as a global major economic and political power vis a vis the United States. As nearly 70 countries have joined the BRI network, this economic cooperation scheme contributes to economic growth as well as helps to close the infrastructure gap. Nevertheless, not all countries experienced equal development through economic cooperation with China. Some are dependent and even facing a debt-trap as shown in the case of African countries. This article addresses the question why such economic cooperation has turned into a debt-trap for countries in the African region. Applying the concept of Structural Power in examining China’s investment in three countries namely Zimbabwe, Cameroon, and Djibouti, this article argues that the debt-trap has caused by the structural disparity between China as an investor and African countries as investment recipients. China, in this case, has a more dominant “good” aspect, while African countries are more in “need”. This article also contends that the debt-trap is a strategy carried out by Chinese government to dominate the African economies.

Norm Entrepreneurs in Human Rights Campaign: The Study of KontraS and Imparsial

Muh Afit Khomsani — 2022-11-29

Civil society organisations or CSOs are unique compared to other groups. They help advocate the society by mentoring, raising public awareness, and campaigning values to improve the quality of understanding the public issues. By analyzing the rejection of the death penalty, this study examines the role of KontraS and Imparsial as norm entrepreneurs in human rights campaigns. Both view the death penalty as incompatible with the universal human rights norm, and the government should comprehensively pay greater attention to this issue. With this belief as a rationale, KontraS and Imparsial are motivated to promote the rejection of the penalty as depicted in their campaigns. The two organizations conduct malicious actions like criticism, demonstration, and collaborative strategies such as research, education, and community empowerment in human rights campaigns. This paper is qualitative research using an intensive literature review combined with in-depth interviews. The findings revealed that both succeeded in overspreading counter norms to create political debates regarding death punishment. However, due to the coalition’s socio-political dynamics and internal factors, KontraS and Imparsial failed to influence the actors and state policies to abolish the capital penalty.

Intention to Stay or Return? Motivation and Factors Influencing Indonesian Nurses Working in Japan

Susi Mariani Harahap — 2022-11-29

In 2008, Japan agreed to recruit Indonesian nurses to work as nurses as a part of the Indonesia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (IJEPA). This study aimed to explore the motivation behind working in Japan and factors behind the Indonesian nurses' intention to stay in Japan or return to Indonesia after the contract is terminated. This descriptive quantitative study used an online survey involving 103 respondents. Results revealed that a high rate of remuneration and better working environment were the pull factors whereas low salarie, and poor working conditions in Indonesia were the major reasons why Indonesian nurses wanted to work in Japan. Of the 103 respondents, 71 % stated that they intended to remain in Japan, whereas 29 % preferred to return to Indonesia after the contract is terminated. The research only focused on one framework of Indonesian migrant workers (nurse). At the end, hopefully this research can be a comprehensive discussion of Indonesian nurse workers and enrich the study of international migration.