AFTER officially closing the Asean Summit and the leaders’ conference with dialogue partners in Jakarta last week, Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo handed over the gavel of the regional grouping’s chair to Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, capping his foreign policy trajectory as Indonesia’s seventh president.
Jokowi had previously been widely known for his reluctance to manage foreign affairs, despite his status as the leader of an emerging power. He simply entrusted Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi with international diplomacy, which has been marked by multilateralism.
