Economic Existence Of The United States In Indonesia And Its Influence Upon Political Relationship Between These Two Countries

The United States has everlasting interests in politics, economy and security in Indonesia, which is the biggest country in Southeast Asia. From the era of Suharto, the United States had strengthened its infiltration and control of Indonesia, with the intention of bringing Indonesia into its international strategic orbit. This thesis has applied structural power theory, interdependence theory and the analyzing pattern of multinational relationship—domestic politics to explore the economic activities of the United States in Indonesia, including trade, investment, aid and so on since Suharto got into power, and analyse how the United States applies its economic existence to influence politics, economy and society structure and also foreign policy towards the US of Indonesia. This thesis also analyze how the existence of the US in Indonesia impacts bilateral relationship between these two countries and foreign policy of Indonesia in this region, especially the policy towards other members of ASEAN and China. Basing on the analysis the thesis will make a conclusion that in the new era, the economic existence of the US in Indonesia has replaced the traditional forces such as military and diplomacy as main force which has an enormous and invisible impact on Indonesia and other countries in this area, and also ASEAN.