The Belt and Road Initiative in Indonesia
In analyzing the Indonesian component of the Belt and Road Initiative (bri), this article lays out cross-cutting contributions from the study of (mis)perceptions in foreign policy and a decentred approach to international relations (ir). The storytelling process around the bri echo representations of an emerging China destined to impose its will unilaterally. Yet implementation of the bri in the archipelago is incremental, and largely subject to the Indonesian political agenda. This misperception is nonetheless nurtured by Beijing and Jakarta because it serves their respective agendas. The asymmetric interdependence of the two states appears to be strengthened by the project, an incentive to consolidate the concept of strategic ambiguity and anchor the analysis of IR in the observation of their localized effects.