Bilateral Relations In International Relations

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

I.1 Background of the Study

Building a bilateral relation with another state always becomes very needed and important to a state to enhance its foreign relations. It also applies to Indonesia as one of the most populous countries in the world with the third largest democracy in the world. As one of the example, the bilateral relation between Indonesia and Australia. Indonesia has been shared a strong bilateral relation with Australia since a very long time ago. Indonesia and Australia have a relationship that is interesting to be reviewed, because they have a lot of differences instead of they have known as neighbor countries. These differences could be in the sector of politics, religions, culture, history, and many

These phenomena can be seen as the shifting trends in the international politics, and we also cannot deny the important roles of non-state actors in doing diplomacy in the international politics. Sub-nation or regional governments – including provinces, districts, and cities – can also be included as non-state actors, where they can transform diplomatic activities and doing a policy decision making process. The sub-nation governments also play important roles in international relations, which they perform really active in some different ways including doing trade and cultural missions abroad, signing agreements and treaties with other non-state actors and foreign states, participating in international networks of the regional cooperation and more (Kuznetsov, 2015, p. 3). These phenomena of sub-nation or regional governments as non-state actors can be called as Paradiplomacy. As mentioned by Rodrigo Tavares, cities and states are the new international actors and the sub-nation entities can be seen as a space where the capital, people, goods, services, and information crisscross and solidify (Tavares, 2016, p. 3). Tavares also stated that nowadays some mayors and governors have exercising economic and political power at their level to fill the vacuum of effective

In Indonesia, it has been regulated legally in Law No. 24 of 2000 regarding International Agreement. Law No. 24 of 2000 Chapter 1 Article 1 stated that:

“International Agreements are treaties, in the particular forms and names, which are regulated in written international law and impose rights and obligations in the field of public law” (Law No. 24 of 2000, Chapter 1 Article 1)

In addition, there have also been regulations that regulate international cooperation that are conducted by the regional governments, which is the Law No. 37 of 1999 regarding foreign relations, Law No. 23 of 2014 regarding Regional Government, and the Regulation of Minister of Domestic Affairs No. 3 of 2008 regarding Guidelines of Regional Governments Cooperation with Foreign Parties. The Regulation of Minister of Domestic Affairs No. 3 of 2008 Chapter 2 about the Cooperation Principal stated