Indonesia's public diplomacy in Madagascar

Abstract

The changing international environment - war on terrorism, a revolution in the sector of information and communications technology - has allowed public diplomacy, a State-to-population diplomacy, to reemerge as a practice of foreign policy of several states around the world. In this thesis, the author aimed to describe how Indonesia’s public diplomacy proceeds in Madagascar. This research was conducted within the theory of liberalism particularly institutional neoliberalism. This thesis used the concepts of public diplomacy, cultural diplomacy and Multi-track diplomacy. By using qualitative research, data was gathered both primarily and secondarily. Primary data were gathered from interviews and survey; secondary from literatures. This thesis found four means of Indonesia’s public diplomacy in Madagascar. The first was Indonesian language training granted by the Indonesian embassy in Madagascar. The second was an international exhibition where Indonesian culture was presented in Madagascar by women’s association. Malagasy farmers and diplomats were trained by Indonesian professors in the third mean. And finally, the fourth was the granting of scholarships to Malagasy students by the Indonesian government. Through those activities, Indonesia has been able to present the values of its culture to Malagasy people which are favorable for the solidarity between the two countries. Indonesian public diplomacy is proceeding slowly and cautiously but surely in Madagascar; in the sense that it affects an important sector of activity on the island, that it targets the leaders of the country for its intervention, but even more that it trains the island’s elites of tomorrow.