The Problem of Indonesia’s Health Diplomacy in the Age of Pandemic

Abstract

Abstrak Hingga Juli 2020, kasus positif Covid-19 di Indonesia sudah menembus angka 100.000 orang dengan jumlah meninggal dunia mendekati 8000 jiwa. Profil penularan virus corona demikian menjadi sumber polemik politik menyoal keefektifan kebijakan penanganan virus corona oleh Pemerintahan Presiden Joko Widodo (Jokowi), termasuk dampak ekonomi dan sosial yang dittimbulkan. Tulisan ini ditujukan untuk meninjau secara kritis, dengan pendekatan intermestik, permasalahan diplomasi kesehatan Jokowi. Penulis berargumen walaupun agenda kesehatan publik telah diakui sebagai bagian penting hubungan internasional, namun implementasi kebijakan luar negeri Indonesia yang berkaitan dengan pandemi Covid-19 masih kurang signifikan. Faktor-faktor domestik terutama marjinalisasi posisi diplomasi dalam manajemen krisis nasional merupakan penghambat kinerja Kementerian Luar Negeri, selain kelemahan fungsional dan institusional birokrasi diplomasi Indonesia.Kata-kata kunci: Covid-19, diplomasi kesehatan, Indonesia, manajemen krisis nasional. Abstract Until July 2020, the number of infection of Covid-19 in Indonesia had reached over 100000 cases, of which nearly 8000 deaths were noted. This profile of coronavirus spread raises political polemeics on the effectiveness of President Jokowi’s government’s policy to mange the pandemic, including its economic and social impact. By employing an intermestic approach, this article looks critically at the implementation of Jokowi’s health diplomacy. The atuhor argues that despite public health agenda has become an important part of today’s international relations, the conduct of Indonesia’s foreign policy to respond to the current Covid-19 issues is noticeably less significant. Domestic factors conteibute to hindering the diplomatic efforts, mainly the marginalisation of diplomacy within the national crisis management fraemwork. Beside this the prolonged funtional and institutional weaknesses of the Foreign Ministry spoil the performance of health diplomacy.Keywords: Covid-19, health diplomacy, Indonesia, national crisis management.