The Indonesian Army's Dominance and its Consequences on Indonesia’s Balance of Power in South China Sea

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the dominance of the Indonesian Army in fulfilling the Minimum Essential Force program in Indonesia from 2010-2021. As a country with a large territory and at the crossroads of international trade, Indonesia requires a strong defense posture, especially its maritime defense. The Indonesian government created the MEF program to improve the country's declining defense posture by bringing military strength to a minimum standard of deterrence capability. The existence of gaps in fulfilling the MEF program, which is dominated by the Army, is one of the obstacles to the success of the objectives of the creationof the MEF program. This study uses the concept of Strategic Culture and Balance of Power. The research method used is a descriptive qualitative method and data collection through literature study by reading and re-processing the literature review that is relevant to this research. The results of this study indicate that Indonesia's strategic culture significantly influences the sustainability of the MEF program and leads to the domination of the Indonesian Army, which then impacts Indonesia's defense posture in the South China Sea region