I ndonesia‐ U.S. Security Collaboration: Still Under the Radar?

Compared with the United States’ much‐celebrated security collaboration with its more formal Asian allies, it is fair to say that its security cooperation with Indonesia is “still under the radar.” Cooperation is limited not only by domestic pressure in the United States with regard to human rights issues, but also from Indonesia's perspective that U.S. policy consistency is often found wanting. Bilateral security relations appear to be relevant in the contemporary Southeast Asian security environment, given increasing tensions in the South China Sea and emerging challenges relating to counterterrorism. This relevance is qualified, however, by both countries’ policymakers’ tendencies to be intermittently detached—if not actually disinterested—in each other's core national security objectives. This article examines the development of Indonesia‐U.S. defense and security relations, analyzing how Indonesia views U.S. presence in the region, and to what degree its own interests and policies benefit from or are complicated by security cooperation with the United States.