It has been nearly two years since Joko Widodo was elected president of Indonesia. Though he has launched an ambitious domestic reform agenda, critics claim that Jokowi has overseen an erosion of Indonesia's international influence, and has strained relations with its neighbours through nationalist policies on drug trafficking and illegal fishing. Others argue that Jokowi is merely seeking to put Indonesia first after 10 years under SBY, a period during which Indonesia focused more on its image abroad than reform at home.

On 21 June, the Lowy Institute hosted a conversation with Lowy Institute Research Fellow Aaron Connelly and Dewi Fortuna Anwar. Professor Anwar is among Indonesia's leading scholars and practitioners of foreign policy. She has served as the chief foreign policy advisor to both the current vice president and his predecessor. Professor Anwar previously served as a top foreign policy advisor to President BJ Habibie, and as the first director of the Habibie Center in Jakarta. She is a professor of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), and completed doctoral studies at Monash.