Examining the Relevance of Indonesia’s Maritime Culture in the Discourse of Social Bonding in Maritime Diplomacy: Case Study in South Sulawesi

Abstract: The current discourse of maritime diplomacy has been strictly limited to the utilization of hard power as an essential tool to produce diplomatic goals through the sea, side-lining the potential of the dissemination of culture as a soft power tool to construct mutual awareness and understanding. This problem is evident in both academic studies and for practical policymakers, with the example of Indonesia’s maritime diplomacy conception in 2014. This article argues the opposite, by highlighting how maritime cultural programs can result in diplomatic goals in the realm of understanding and awareness, expanding the study of Le Mière’s maritime diplomacy. This article employs Holmes and Wheeler’s article “Social Bonding in Diplomacy,” in attempt to analyze how programs that fall under the categories of; 1) Cultural Global Mobility Programs, 2) Cultural Exhibitions, and 3) Cultural Expeditions, can represent the domain of maritime culture in the discourse of maritime diplomacy, which has the capacity to provide outcomes of mutual understanding and mutual awareness. The outcome thus is the reconceptualization of cooperative maritime diplomacy, with the inclusion of cultural diplomatic aspects. Through social bonding in diplomacy, this article has shown that the cultural aspects are able to positively establish social bonds, which establishes a basis for successful diplomacy.