by W. T. R.
Indonesia through Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 3 of 2022 on Capital of the State determine to move the Capital of Indonesia from Special Capital District of Jakarta to Capital of Nusantara (Ibu Kota Nusantara or IKN) as started in Article 4 paragraph 1 Law Number 3 of 2022. Capital of Nusantara is a region which currently under development, that region is become to be a central core area of Indonesian Government. Capital of Nusantara are covering land area of 256,142 ha and sea waters area approximately 68,189 ha.
Relocating the country’s capital city to the new Capital City of Nusantara (IKN) is not just relocating ministries buildings, presidential palace, or vice presidential palace to the IKN. Not only relocate the physical thing, but Indonesia want to develop a new work culture, new mindset, and the IKN as a new economic base. According to Minister of National Development Planning / Head of the National Development Planning Agency, IKN will be developed with the theme of “The Global City for All”, which will highlight the start of new Indonesian civilization. “The name Nusantara for the New Capital City of Indonesia will represent the concept of unity that accommodates the super-diversity of Indonesia. The reality of Indonesia’s diversity will become social capital to lead people to prosperity, to achieve an advance, a resilience, a sustainable Indonesia”.
Development Arrangement of Capital of Nusantara (IKN) is based on the vision as world’s city for the entire project currently built and managed with the purpose to: (1) be sustainable city in the world; (2) be the driver of the Indonesia’ economic in the future; and (3) be the national identity symbol that represent the diversity of Indonesia’ people, based on Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution.
Illustration 2: Law Number 3 of 2022 on Capital of the State
In the IKN Development Arrangement, defence development of IKN is inseparable from the development of national defense with the purpose to build defense forces as an archipelagic and maritime nation that has the ability to avert and destroy threats to national defense. Layered defense systems and strategies with smart defense strategies, which are the synergy between hard defense in the form of military defense and soft defense in the form of non-military defense.
The development of national defense, both military defense and non-military defense, which are directed to this following points: (1) Development of a military defense posture is intended to fulfill strategic essential forces and arrange other reserve defense components; (2) Development of an integrated state defense system between military defense and non-military defense; and (3) Development of military and non-military defense institutions through institutional reinforcement and restructuring. One of the defense system concepts in the IKN waters area which is contained in the IKN development arrangement is to develop a virtual maritime gate at the ALKI-II gate, precisely in the Makassar Strait in the form of a modern technology system with imaginary architecture to function to identify the movement of people, goods, or other instruments that either on the surface of the sea or under the sea.
Illustration 3. Development arrangement of virtual maritime gate
Such design of national defense system is appealing for us to pay attention to, where the challenges that will be faced by Indonesia are very varied, especially challenges from a maritime perspective. In this discussion, the author will focus on several challenges that Indonesia might face in the future from a maritime security perspective. Some of these challenges include: (1) The geographical location of IKN is very close to the disputed area, the South China Sea; (2) The geographical location of IKN that may be reached by military weapons from other countries; and (3) The geographical location of IKN which is on international shipping lanes.
If we review again at the military force in Southeast Asia, according to Global Firepower, Indonesia occupies the number 1 position among Southeast Asian countries in terms of military force. However, what we need to pay attention to is the presence of China in the dispute over the South China Sea area where China has built several military facilities in the Spratly Island area. If we look at China’s military power, of course the most important thing for us to worry about is the possession of nuclear weapons
Illustration 4. The range of China’s Missile Force
As we can see in Illustration 3, where the range of China’s missiles is capable of reaching up to the IKN, thus, this thing is required to be a factor for the Indonesian Government in determining the best defense strategy to deal with threats around the IKN, the thing is not only China, but the range of missiles from other countries now capable to reach the capital city of the State of Indonesia, even though it is not wartime at the moment, but this should be calculated in securing the territory.
Aside from the threats that exist in South China Sea, other threats that we need to pay attention to is geographical location of IKN which traversed by ALKI II international shipping lane as shown in the illustration below.
Illustration 5. Location of IKN directly adjacent to ALKI II
Indonesia became an archipelagic country based on UNCLOS 1982, wherein Indonesia further regulated the opening of the Indonesian Archipelagic Sea Lanes (ALKI) as international shipping lanes. The fact that IKN is in nearby area to ALKI II makes the capital city of the state vulnerable to attacks from any other countries and also non-state actors around it. Given the importance for a country to secure its national capital in a state of war. This reminds the author of the Russian invasion movement into Ukraine where the Russian military movement encircled the territory of the Ukrainian state which led to the State Capital as shown in the illustration below.
Illustration 6. Russian Invasion to Ukraine are heading to big city and state capital Kiev
To be able to anticipate the threats that exist around it, the development of the IKN requires the Indonesian Government to be able to design a defense scheme that can dispel attacks and can be the first strike stick before these threats can enter Indonesian territory. The Virtual Maritime Gate designed by Indonesia can be an option to be able to detect early threats to IKN and it is expected that it will not only be applied to the ALKI II entrance area but also implemented throughout Indonesia’s outermost EEZ, apart from an initial detection tool, Indonesia still needs a best effort in defense and attack scheme.
If we look at security extensively, we should understand that not only other countries that are a threat to Indonesia, but non-state actors are respectively one of the threats around Indonesia. The relocation of the State Capital to the IKN will bring us closer to the activities of the Abu Sayyaff Group which is active in the Sulu Sea.
The last challenge to IKN is about the position of the Capital of the Archipelago is surrounded by defense alliances, such as the Five Power Defense Arrangements (FPDA) involving Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Britain, as well as the security alliances of Australia, Britain and America. Union or AUKUS. On the other hand, the Capital of the Archipelago is also squeezed by the existence of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which is a global development strategy by the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
The impact of the crush of security alliances full of Western bloc support, along with BRI which is an initiative of China as one of the strongest rival countries to the United States brings a new geostrategic challenge for Indonesia. Apart from Indonesia’s neutrality, there are other threats that are dangerous. The threat is a threat that comes from the air. Moving the capital city to East Kalimantan resulted in the location of the Indonesian capital being closer to the Flight Information Region (FIR) of Singapore, Kinibalu (Malaysia), and Manila (Philippines). Threats in the air have also increased due to the location of the new capital city within the cruising radius of the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), as well as being within the hypersonic missile radius of certain countries.
Responding to such challenges and threats, Indonesia requires several improvements in its regional security. In terms of personnel, Indonesia requires to increase guard personnel in the ALKI II area, which is the location of the capital of the state. In terms of personnel effectiveness, indeed, Indonesia requires to equip its personnel with a capable Indonesian maritime surveillance system, fast ships to facilitate pursuit, addition of submarines and underwater detection equipment.
In addition, Indonesia also requires more long-range anti-missile defenses that shall be useful in preventing long-range missile attacks entering the IKN region and designing a Standard Operational Procedure between defense institutions to be able to overcome threats that enter Indonesian territory. Another thing that Indonesia requires to do is the development of military bases at several points close to IKN and indeed, increasing our fleets and military equipments in such region.
