1 - International and Domestic Politics

Summary

Any explanation for the use of non-state security providers by government authorities should not rely solely on the examination of international politics or the domestic structure. A government security policy is generated from the interface between interstate negotiations on the one hand and interaction within the domestic realm on the other—among individuals, social and interest groups, and the state (McSweeney 1999, p. 127; Gourevitch 2002, pp. 310, 316, 318). The interaction between international politics and the domestic structure may influence the use of preman organizations for port and coastal security in Indonesia. This proposition, however, has not been examined in the existing literature. This chapter will fill this gap.

This chapter consists of three parts. The first part will explain the implications of the 9/11 attacks for Indonesia's port security. It will examine why, despite Indonesia's long history and experience of terrorist incidents, it was only after 9/11 that governments around the world begin to highlight the possibility and significance of terrorist attacks in Indonesian waters and on Indonesian maritime facilities. It will also elaborate on Indonesia's efforts to improve the security of its ports and outlying islands following the 2002 Bali bombings and the issuance in 2008 of port security advisories (PSAs) to most Indonesian ports by the United States Coast Guard. These include the involvement of preman organizations as one of the main features of Indonesian government policy to secure its ports and outlying islands in the archipelago. The second part of the chapter will provide detailed background information on Indonesia's domestic political dynamics and the involvement of preman organizations in the process. It will highlight the political practices that have changed and those that remain the same in post-authoritarian Indonesia. It will elaborate on the specifics of Indonesia's security and political practices that sustain the use of preman organizations in security. And finally, the concluding part of the chapter will highlight that the use of preman organizations for port and coastal security in Indonesia is shaped by a combination of domestic political dynamics that compel the government to take low-key approaches to counterterrorism and institutionalized local practices and everyday politics that normalizes the use of preman organizations for the provision of security.