Critical Discourse of Indonesia’s Free and Active Foreign Policy: An Analysis of Neutrality in The Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Indonesia’s free and active foreign policy, rooted in Mohammad Hatta’s 1948 doctrine, faced a significant test during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, as Indonesia adopted a neutral stance, resisting Western pressure to impose sanctions on Russia. This study employs Norman Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to examine how the Indonesian government constructed a critical discourse of its free and active policy through narratives emphasizing peaceful diplomacy and multilateralism. By integrating Antonio Gramsci’s hegemony theory and Rizal Sukma’s foreign policy frameworks, the research analyzes discourses in official speeches, statements from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and media coverage spanning February to December 2022.
Key narratives, such as peaceful diplomacy and multilateral legitimacy, positioned Indonesia as a neutral global mediator, evident in President Joko Widodo’s diplomatic visits to Kyiv and Moscow in June 2022 and Indonesia’s abstention in UN General Assembly votes. These actions reflect a commitment to the UN Charter and non-alignment principles. However, the analysis reveals that these discourses also obscured Indonesia’s economic dependence on Russia, particularly for wheat (3.4 million tons) and fertilizer (250,000 tons of ammonia) imports in 2022, as reported by the Central Statistics Agency. Media framing, both domestic and international, shaped public perceptions, with national media reinforcing government narratives and social media reflecting polarized sentiments. This study contributes to political communication scholarship by elucidating how Indonesia’s neutrality discourse navigates geopolitical tensions and domestic economic constraints, offering insights into strategic communication in a multipolar world.

Critical discourse, free and active policy, neutrality, Critical Discourse Analysis

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