Hasto proposes Prabowo adopt Soekarno's geopolitics to address global conflicts

PDI Perjuangan (PDIP) Secretary-General Hasto Kristiyanto has proposed President Prabowo Subianto use the geopolitical thinking of Indonesia’s first President Soekarno as a reference for Indonesian diplomacy in helping to defuse various global conflicts. “If President Prabowo wishes to make Indonesia a ‘peace facilitator’ for the Middle East issue, this (Soekarno Geopolitical Cycle) can be used,” Hasto said during a public lecture titled ‘Bung Karno’s Geopolitical Thought’, held to mark the 27th Anniversary of Bung Karno University (UBK) at the Ir. Soekarno Hall, UBK, Jakarta, Thursday. Hasto, who is also a permanent lecturer at UBK, believes Soekarno’s Geopolitical Cycle framework is highly relevant if the President wishes to position Indonesia as a peace facilitator on the global stage, particularly in easing tensions in the Middle East. Hasto outlined the importance of geopolitical thinking as a key instrument for Indonesia’s current foreign diplomacy and defence direction. He explained that Bung Karno’s geopolitical thought does not move randomly, but rather through a systematic cycle. This cycle can be used to face various regional and global geopolitical dynamics in a measured way. Secondly, it moves towards global involvement by building new international law through foreign diplomacy and international cooperation. Thirdly, it strengthens this aspect with defence diplomacy to build an effective deterrent effect. “This cycle keeps turning. We create international law with our diplomatic approach, build international cooperation, until finally strategic defence diplomacy strengthens our defence posture,” he said. According to Hasto, this geopolitically scientific approach can be applied not only in the Middle East but also to help defuse conflicts on the Korean Peninsula (North and South Korea) and tensions in the Taiwan Strait. “If we want to resolve the conflict on the Korean Peninsula, we can use this cycle. Through these diplomatic steps, our national interests also benefit. For instance, from South Korea we can obtain various technology transfers to accelerate our industry, while from North Korea we can build strategic understanding,” Hasto said. Furthermore, Hasto suggested President Prabowo take the initiative to hold a new, meticulously planned international conference, just as Bung Karno prepared the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference (KAA). This conference, he believes, could be a kind of ‘KAA Plus’ or a new movement initiated directly by Indonesia to mediate tensions in the Middle East. He also reminded that the success of diplomacy in Bung Karno’s era was supported by mature technical detail, which he termed ‘the art of diplomacy’. This step is important so that every attending delegate feels respected, ensuring the resulting peace agreements have strong legitimacy recognised by the international community. Furthermore, Hasto stressed the importance for universities like UBK to continue reviving the thoughts of the nation’s founding fathers. He lamented the tendency over recent decades where Bung Karno’s strategic thoughts were sidelined in the national education curriculum. “UBK must ignite determination and spirit to re-excavate all the thoughts of the nation’s founding fathers within scientific forums. We must have a strong character by not distancing ourselves from the history and great thoughts of our founding fathers,” Hasto said.