Abstract

There has not been much discussion on what motivates middle powers in international politics. Most discussions simply lump them all together as behaving similarly, even though there are variations in the behaviors of middle powers. This presentation argues that these variations can be explained by focusing on the middle powers’ satisfaction with the international order and on their perception of threat from the major power(s) that dominates the order. Middle powers understand the limitation of their positions. Hence, dissatisfied middle powers are unwilling to directly challenge the international order. Rather, they end up exhibiting a behavior called hegemonic denial – defined as a strategy in which middle power states are attempting to limit the influence of the dominant power(s) to dominate the region where they belong. Indonesia’s joining BRICS while at the same time maintaining its security relations with the United States should be seen as a manifestation of this policy, instead of what some scholars usually call this behavior as ‘hedging’

About the Speaker

Yohanes Sulaiman is an Associate Professor in International Relations at General Achmad Yani University, Cimahi, Indonesia. He is also a non-resident fellow at the National Bureau of Asian Research, Washington, DC, USA. His interests include Indonesian strategic culture and diplomatic history; Indonesia’s relations with major powers (United States, China, and Russia); East Asian security and politics; and civil-military relations. He has a PhD and MA in political science from the Ohio State University and BA from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Yohanes has published his articles in leading international refereed journals, including Asia Policy, Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs, Asian Politics and Policy, and International Journal of Asian Studies. He currently serves as the Executive Editor of Journal of Global Strategic Studies, a peer-reviewed journal of international relations and strategic studies based at General Achmad Yani University.