Deficiencies of Coercive Maritime Diplomacy for Middle Powers amid Indo-Pacific Geopolitics: An Indonesian Perspective

Joko Widodo’s push for Indonesia’s maritime potential through Global Maritime Axis indicates that maritime diplomacy will be an integral part of Indonesia’s foreign policy in the ages to come. However, there is a lack of discourse regarding the most effective form of maritime diplomacy in current literature, especially on topics addressing whether coercive maritime diplomacy should be embraced by middle power states such as Indonesia or should other forms of maritime diplomacy be prioritized. This study focuses on closing this gap by looking at the deficiencies of coercive maritime diplomacy in the twenty-first century. Specifically, several points have been addressed, including how the implementation of coercive maritime diplomacy defies middle power foreign policies and the inconsistent policy responses to coercive maritime diplomacy. This study, hence, concludes the irrelevance of coercive maritime diplomacy in the current status quo and its inability to match the effectiveness of past similar forms known as gunboat diplomacy.