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  • About RSIS
      • Introduction
      • Building the Foundations
      • Welcome Message
      • Board of Governors
      • Staff Profiles
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        • Dean’s Office
        • Management
        • Distinguished Fellows
        • Faculty and Research
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        • Visiting Fellows
        • Adjunct Fellows
        • Administrative Staff
      • Honours and Awards for RSIS Staff and Students
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      • Endowed Professorships
      • Career Opportunities
      • Getting to RSIS
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        • Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre)
        • Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS)
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        • International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR)
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        • National Security Studies Programme (NSSP)
        • Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies (SRP) Programme
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      • [email protected] Newsletter
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        • Science and Technology Studies Programme (STSP) (2017-2020)
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    • WP227 | Assessing 12-year Miltary Reform in Indonesia: Major Strategic Gaps for the Next Stage of Reform
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    WP227 | Assessing 12-year Miltary Reform in Indonesia: Major Strategic Gaps for the Next Stage of Reform
    Leonard C. Sebastian, Iisgindarsah

    06 April 2011

    download pdf

    Abstract

    The Indonesian military remains one of the most crucial institutions in a
    democratising Indonesia and continues to be a key factor in any discussion regarding
    the future of the country. Forced to withdraw from formal politics at the end of the
    New Order regime, the military leadership has been embarking on a series of reforms
    to “professionalise” the armed forces, while maintaining their standing within
    Indonesian society. This paper attempts to provide an assessment of the military
    reform process during the last 12 years in Indonesia. To this end, it will provide an
    overview regarding the role of the Indonesian military during the Suharto era; analyse
    to what extent the process of democratisation has shaped the role and mission of the
    military; explore the perceptions and motivations of the actors involved in the reform
    process; review what has been achieved; and highlight the outstanding issues that
    remain unaddressed. With regard to the final point, this paper discerns three major
    strategic gaps that undermine the processes of military reform in Indonesia, namely:
    the “regulation loophole”, the “defence-economic gap” and the “shortcomings of
    democratic civilian control”. Considering these problems, this paper concludes that
    while the military officers’ interest in day-to-day politics will gradually diminish, the
    military professionalism will ebb and flow depending more on the behaviour of
    political elites and their attempts to address the major strategic gaps in the next stage
    of the country’s military reform.

    Categories: Working Papers / Country and Region Studies / Southeast Asia and ASEAN

    Last updated on 01/07/2014

    Abstract

    The Indonesian military remains one of the most crucial institutions in a
    democratising Indonesia and continues to be a key factor in any discussion regarding
    the future of the country. Forced to withdraw from formal politics at the end of the
    New Order regime, the military leadership has been embarking on a series of reforms
    to “professionalise” the armed forces, while maintaining their standing within
    Indonesian society. This paper attempts to provide an assessment of the military
    reform process during the last 12 years in Indonesia. To this end, it will provide an
    overview regarding the role of the Indonesian military during the Suharto era; analyse
    to what extent the process of democratisation has shaped the role and mission of the
    military; explore the perceptions and motivations of the actors involved in the reform
    process; review what has been achieved; and highlight the outstanding issues that
    remain unaddressed. With regard to the final point, this paper discerns three major
    strategic gaps that undermine the processes of military reform in Indonesia, namely:
    the “regulation loophole”, the “defence-economic gap” and the “shortcomings of
    democratic civilian control”. Considering these problems, this paper concludes that
    while the military officers’ interest in day-to-day politics will gradually diminish, the
    military professionalism will ebb and flow depending more on the behaviour of
    political elites and their attempts to address the major strategic gaps in the next stage
    of the country’s military reform.

    Categories: Working Papers / Country and Region Studies

    Last updated on 01/07/2014

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    Latest Book
    WP227 | Assessing 12-year Miltary Reform in Indonesia: Major Strategic Gaps for the Next Stage of Reform

    Abstract

    The Indonesian military remains one of the most crucial institutions in a democratising Indonesia and continues to be a key factor in any discussion ...

    more info