Mr Andi Widjajanto, Indonesia’s National Resilience Institute (Lemhannas RI) Governor, delivered an RSIS Distinguished Public Lecture on 5 August 2022 entitled “Indonesia’s Strategic Thinking and National Resilience.” President Joko Widodo of Indonesia recently mandated Lemhannas RI to focus on five areas: green economy, blue economy, digital transformation, Nusantara Capital City resilience, and democratic consolidation. In his lecture, Mr Widjajanto discussed Lemhannas’s strategy in implementing those five mandates as well as the contemporary and future strategic challenges facing Indonesia that will shape the country’s approach to national resilience.

In his presentation, Mr Widjajanto explained that the current era is one that is characterised by a connectivity conflict and great power rivalry between the United States and China. While the competition for strategic resources remains an important element of geopolitical conflicts in this era, the epicentre of geopolitical competition is distinguished by competition over global supply chains and control of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cyberwarfare.

Mr Widjajanto noted two roles of national resilience to tackle these challenges: crisis management and institutional management. Under crisis management, Indonesia needs to develop better crisis governance, risk management, crisis management, quick recovery, and sustainability. On the other hand, under institutional management, there are regulations, institutional framework, operational, resource allocation, and technology adoption. Furthermore, the governor highlighted that it is increasingly important for Lemhannas to pay attention to and study “grey zone” threats in our region, especially the South China Sea conflict. He concluded his presentation by reiterating Lemhanas’s mission of being the President’s think tank in areas of strategic leadership, strengthening the national ideology, and in strategic studies.