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Original Research

REVISITING THE CONCEPT OF INDONESIA’S MAIN ISLAND DEFENSE IN CRAFTING A RELEVANT ARCHIPELAGIC DEFENSE STRATEGY

HELDA RISMAN 1, SYAMSUL MA’ARIF 2, AMARULLA OCTAVIAN 3, and JONNI MAHROZA 4.

Vol 17, No 10 ( 2022 )   |  DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7152439   |   Author Affiliation: Doctoral Student of the Faculty of Defense Strategy, the Republic of Indonesia Defense University, Indonesia Peace and Security Center District, Sentul, Bogor, West Java 16810 1; Professor of Disaster Management at the Faculty of Defense Strategy of the Republic of Indonesia Defense University, Indonesia Peace and Security Center District, Sentul, Bogor, West Java 16810 2; Professor of Maritime Sociology at the Faculty of Defense Strategy of the Republic of Indonesia Defense University, Indonesia Peace and Security Center District, Sentul, Bogor, West Java 16810 3; Lecturer of Defense Strategy at the Faculty of Defense Strategy of the Republic of Indonesia Defense University, Indonesia Peace and Security Center District, Sentul, Bogor, West Java 16810 4.   |   Licensing: CC 4.0   |   Pg no: 46-61   |   To cite: HELDA RISMAN, et al., (2022). REVISITING THE CONCEPT OF INDONESIA'S MAIN ISLAND DEFENSE IN CRAFTING A RELEVANT ARCHIPELAGIC DEFENSE STRATEGY. 17(10), 46–61. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7152439   |   Published on: 06-10-2022

Abstract

Geography and history are two factors determining a country’s defense behavior. Indonesia is not an exception. It has a fragmented shape due to its geography as a vast archipelago. Its history of experiencing armed conflicts was a history of establishing and maintaining political unity over such a fragmented territory. In dealing with these two determinants, Indonesia has developed an archipelagic defense strategy with main island defense as its core. Under this defense system, every main island and major island chain should be able to defend itself independently during a military emergency. However, the authors argued that such a doctrine needs to be rethought to make it relevant in dealing with Indonesia’s current threats, including the external threat of the South China Sea conflict and the internal threat of terrorism and separatism.


Keywords

main island defense; territorial commands; threats.