The rise of the Asian middle powers: Indonesia's conceptions of international order.

The article examines Indonesia's conception of international order as an emerging Asian middle power, emphasizing its foundational principles of sovereignty, sovereign equality, and multilateralism rooted in Vice President Mohammad Hatta's 1948 vision of autonomy in international politics. Since Indonesia's democratic transition in 1998, its engagement with the liberal international order (LIO) has evolved under Presidents Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Joko Widodo, with Yudhoyono promoting Indonesia as a "home-grown democracy" engaging constructively with core LIO members, while Widodo has emphasized democracy's role in delivering equitable economic development and has been more critical of the LIO's shortcomings, engaging also with non-LIO actors like China. The article highlights Indonesia's consistent pursuit of autonomy and non-alignment, illustrating how Asian middle powers articulate nuanced conceptions of international order that selectively engage with liberal norms without fully endorsing or rejecting the LIO. This case challenges binary views of international order as a contest solely between great powers or between liberalism and revisionism, underscoring the agency of middle powers in shaping global governance.