Papua Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations

The Gibraltar Issue: A Framing and Discourse Analysis of Spain During the Brexit Negotiation

2023-08-17T20:16:38+00:00

Gibraltar becomes one of the issues that emerged during the Brexit negotiation in the British withdrawal from the European Union. Spain becomes the inseparable actor in discussing the issue due to its long-standing interference in Gibraltar. Spain used the long process of Brexit to provoke and predispose Gibraltar to its advantages. This study aims to explore the framing of Spain’s role in the context of Brexit negotiations concerning Gibraltar by analysing a selection of British and French news articles. A discourse-historical analysis is also used by analysing speeches delivered by the Chief Minister of Gibraltar. From the framing and discourse-historical analysis, this study found that Spain has become the inseparable actor and has been framed in negative terms concerning the Gibraltar issue. Spain appears consistently in the corpus that is used in this study and is mentioned to attempt bringing back Gibraltar as a Spanish territory. The Chief Minister of Gibraltar also referred to Spain as a threat and treated Spain as the aggressor. In addition, this study adopts a constructivist perspective to bring insights into the sentiments behind the framing and discourses that emerged during the Brexit negotiations, especially on the involvement of Spain in discussing the Gibraltar issue.

KEYWORDS
Brexit Negotiation; Constructivist Approach; Gibraltar; Spain

Indonesia’s Motivations for Signing of the Indonesia-Chile Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IC-CEPA)

2023-08-27T09:39:25+00:00

Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) have recently become a recognized global trend which continues to increase in number as they offer ease of access to markets and reduction of trade barriers. Almost all countries involved in FTAs pursue their national interests, particularly economic ones, and Indonesia and Chile are no exception. This topic is interesting to scrutinize because the geographical factors of the two countries are quite far distant, and there were larger economic partners for Indonesia in South America (Brazil and Argentina) than Chile in regards to the establishment of a Free Trade Agreement. This article uses the approach of Solis and Katada, international relations’ experts, which looks at it with a broader view. The approach emphasizes the establishment of international economic cooperation not only based on economic interests or caused solely on geographical proximity. Yet still, even economic motives are considered, other motives like political motive cannot be denied. The results of this study indicate that Indonesia’s involvement in IC-CEPA is not only based on economic motives, there are other motives such as politics (raise international status) which cannot be ignored.

KEYWORDS
Free Trade Agreement; Chile; IC-CEPA; Indonesia; Trade cooperation

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Humanitarian Response Plan in Handling the Afghanistan Food Crisis

2023-10-18T15:21:20+00:00

The food crisis experienced by Afghanistan constitutes a humanitarian crisis. The Government of Afghanistan alone cannot handle this severe shortage of food. Seeing the inability of government to manage the crisis, UN OCHA took initiatives by introducing Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) programme. This article aims to analyse UN OCHA’s role and challenges dealing Afghanistan food crisis 2016-2022. Using the qualitative method with secondary data collections, the result shows that the role of UN OCHA in dealing with the Afghanistan food crisis had helped government of Afghanistan in a significant way despite facing serious challenges. The role of UN OCHA is channelled through HRP programme which contains food security and agriculture, nutrition, health, WASH, education, emergency shelter and NFI, protection, and coordination. Challenges in the distribution are influenced by aspects of access, adequacy, security and vulnerability, and sustainability. This article contributes the field of international relations, especially dealing with the issues of food scarcity. It also hopes to increase interests among scholars to study food crisis and can offer input for UN OCHA to improve quality and quantity of humanitarian assistance.

KEYWORDS

Humanitarian Response Plan; Food Crisis; UN OCHA

Soft Power Strategy: The Role of Indonesia’s Diplomacy in the Peace Mission to the Russian-Ukraine Conflict

2023-11-26T03:32:03+00:00

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has adversely affected global stability and triggered crises. Indonesia took the initiative to facilitate the peace mission. This study aims to analyze the concept and application of soft power strategies in Indonesia’s diplomacy related to the peace mission in the Russia-Ukraine Conflict. A qualitative explanatory method is used to explain the reasons underlying this move. Data collection was conducted through a literature study, while data analysis used a qualitative approach. Soft Power Theory was used as a theoretical framework to understand how Indonesia uses its power of attraction in diplomacy, while the First Track Diplomacy Concept became the foundation to understand the government’s direct role in resolving conflicts. The results showed that Indonesia used the first line diplomacy instrument as part of its peace mission in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. This is realized through the use of dialogue, negotiation, and cooperation efforts made by both countries. This is in line with Indonesia’s Soft Power goals which seek to improve security in the external environment through the projection of an image as a peaceful and attractive country.

KEYWORDS

Conflict; Indonesian Diplomacy; Russia-Ukraine; Soft Power

Assessing the Paradiplomacy of Regional Governments in Indonesia: The Case of Banten Province

2023-09-02T02:45:58+00:00

The development of international cooperation has undergone dynamic evolution, with active involvement from local governments that extends beyond the central government's authority. For this purpose, paradiplomacy has been widely applied by local governments in Indonesia. However, several, including the Province of Banten, have not fully optimized its implementation. Despite having significant potential for participating in international cooperation, the execution of paradiplomacy in Banten has not yet reached the expected level. This research aims to explain the implementation of paradiplomacy in the Province of Banten and to identify the factors influencing its ineffectiveness. The research applies a qualitative descriptive approach and uses case studies and document analysis to gain an in-depth understanding of paradiplomacy implementation. Data collection involves library research and field observations. The research finds that two factors contribute to the ineffectiveness of paradiplomacy in Banten, including legal ambiguities in the regulations governing paradiplomacy and the absence of a multi-level paradiplomacy system in Banten. Revitalizing these factors can enhance the effectiveness of Banten’s paradiplomacy.

KEYWORDS

Paradiplomacy; Soft Power; Sub-state governments

Influence of ASEAN Centrality on Responses to the AUKUS Pact: A Comparative Study of Indonesia and the Philippines

2024-03-01T10:18:41+00:00

This article aims to find answers to why two countries, despite sharing a high degree of similarity, may exhibit contrasting responses to a particular phenomenon. The Philippines and Indonesia share numerous similarities, encompassing geographical location, form of states, ideology, security, and economic conditions. Nevertheless, their reactions diverged when the AUKUS Defense Pact, aimed at bolstering security and stability in the Indo-Pacific, was established. Indonesia voiced concerns that the formation of the pact would potentially lead to an arms race in the region. Conversely, the Philippines responded positively by issuing verbal support for the establishment of AUKUS. Through the application of the most similar system design comparison method and Donald E Nuechterlein’s concept of National Interest analysis, this article concludes that the Philippines and Indonesia adopt distinct approaches and harbor different interests in the preservation of regional stability. Indonesia has interest in prioritizing the principle of ASEAN centrality through the application of the ASEAN Outlook on Indo-Pacific. On the other hand, the Philippines considers it crucial to involve their traditional defense partners, the United States and Australia, in upholding regional security.

KEYWORDS

ASEAN Centrality; AUKUS; Indonesia; National Interest; Philippines