Indonesia Lost From Malaysia in Asian Strength Index

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Indonesia should try harder if not to be left behind from three big players in Asia, namely United States, China and India. Although predicted to be the fourth largest power in Asia in 2030, Indonesia's current performance is still considered far from its potential.

In the Asian Strength Index, Lowy Institute assesses the performance of 25 countries in Asia with 114 different indicators, including military, economic, diplomatic and cultural penetration.

In general, Indonesia is ranked 10 or one position adrift of Malaysia in rank nine and Singapore is ranked eighth. While the United States and China dominate at the top, followed by Japan, India, Russia and South Korea.

Indonesia's worst performance is noted in the indicators of political stability and internal conflict. In the list Indonesia ranked 16th out of 25 countries with a score of 46.6. A similar assessment is recorded for the Regional Investment Relations category which records the flow of investment from Indonesia to 24 other countries in Asia. In this list Indonesia is in the order of 16.

For military affairs Indonesia is ranked 13th, under Pakistan, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam. In this case the system of defense equipment owned by TNI and the ability of Indonesia to respond to regional conflict is considered not yet qualified.

In addition to basic strength, lack of regional cooperation in the field of defense is also considered to weaken the position of Indonesia. Since 2012 Indonesia recorded only 194 joint military exercises with 24 other major Asian countries. This figure is lower than Singapore and Malaysia

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***@musawir**

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