Anis Matta Unveils Indonesia–Islamic World Integration Roadmap in Cairo Roundtable

Ahmad Mahmod

The title came to mind as I set out to write this article about a roundtable discussion hosted by the Center for Dialogue for Political and Media Studies in cooperation with the Indonesian Embassy in Cairo. I had the honor of moderating the event yesterday at the seminar hall of the Cairo Diplomatic Club, which discussed a study presented by Muhammad Anis Matta, Indonesia’s Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs. The discussion was attended by Indonesia’s Ambassador to Egypt Kuncoro Giri Waseso; Maj. Gen. Hamdi Labib, head of the Dialogue Foundation for Humanitarian Studies and Research; former Red Sea governor Maj. Gen. Ahmed Abdullah; Admiral Mahmud Metwally, chairman of the Maritime Salon; a number of ambassadors, including Ahmed Fadel Yacoub, a former assistant foreign minister; as well as academics and researchers.

Matta presented a substantial and wide-ranging study produced through a research collaboration between the Foreign Policy Strategy Agency of Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the International Relations Department of Universitas Islam Indonesia. The study is titled:
“Indonesia’s Integration in the Islamic World – A Roadmap.”

The study contains a policy document that sets the direction of a roadmap for Indonesia’s integration with the Islamic world and is structured around three main sections. The first section offers a conceptual discussion of what integration means, prevailing discourse within the Islamic world, and the opportunities available to the Islamic world as part of an emerging multipolar global system.

The second section examines contemporary developments in the Islamic world, including the challenges Islam faces under globalization, Indonesia’s perspective as part of the Islamic world, and key points of convergence between Indonesia and the wider Islamic world.

The third section outlines the proposed roadmap for Indonesia’s integration with the Islamic world, identifying the country’s capacities, strengths, and resources that could be mobilized to improve implementation.

After listening to Vice Foreign Minister Muhammad Anis Matta’s presentation, it is fair to say the study ranks among the most comprehensive strategic readings to emerge from Southeast Asia. It goes beyond the boundaries of traditional diplomacy, extending into what Matta describes as the philosophy of “political positioning” at a time he calls “the liquefaction of the international order and the collapse of global rules.”

Matta’s analysis rests on the view that the world is entering an era of “strongman dominance.” He traces this phase from the invasion of Iraq outside international legitimacy, to United States intervention in Venezuela, and to what he described as the kidnapping and prosecution of elected President Nicolás Maduro in the United States.

The international disorder Matta describes—further reinforced, he argued, by the United States withdrawing from more than 66 international treaties and agreements—suggests that the rules-based international system shaped after World War II has, in practice, come to an end.

Matta argued that countries without a “strategic bloc” risk becoming victims of great-power interests. From that standpoint, Indonesia’s integration with the Islamic world is not an emotional or purely religious choice, but an urgent requirement to build a geopolitical shield—one intended to prevent Indonesia’s decisions from being hijacked or marginalized by global forces taking shape amid the breakdown of the current international system.

Against the backdrop of China’s growing dominance and ASEAN countries serving as Jakarta’s main trading partners, Matta emphasized the importance of repositioning the Islamic world as a key economic partner for Indonesia, framing it as a potential third engine of Indonesia’s economy.

This policy direction aims to diversify partnerships, attract investment flows among Muslim-majority countries, and foster a shared Islamic market that could give Indonesia greater independence in managing global economic volatility.

Matta’s underlying argument can be summarized as follows: the world respects countries that are strong. From that perspective, integration with the Islamic world is both a means and an end. The means is to strengthen Indonesia’s domestic standing through strategic alliances with Middle Eastern countries; the end is to ensure Indonesia’s voice is heard—and carries weight—in international forums, not as a follower but as a leader in the Global South and the Islamic world, pushing for reform while safeguarding itself from Western dominance and “new colonialism,” not pursuing hegemony. This is presented as a moderate posture consistent with Indonesia’s foreign policy tradition since independence.

Historically, Indonesia has positioned itself as a defender of the rights of nations, dating back to the Bandung Conference in 1955 and the founding of the Non-Aligned Movement through cooperation between Gamal Abdel Nasser and Sukarno. Those events helped lay the foundation for the modern concept of the Global South.

The Bandung Conference was not merely a diplomatic gathering; it was a declaration of independent political will by 29 Asian and African countries.

There was strong alignment between Nasser and Sukarno. Nasser viewed Sukarno as an ally who shared similar concerns about old-style colonialism. The conference produced the Bandung Principles, which emphasized respect for sovereignty, racial equality, and non-interference in domestic affairs. According to Matta, those principles are now eroding under the “strongman politics” he described.

Today, Matta presented a fresh vision that calls for a more active Indonesian political leadership. One example is Indonesia’s firm stance in support of the Palestinian struggle, which he framed as a pillar of Islamic solidarity and a moral responsibility. In his argument, Palestine remains the only nation yet to achieve full independence—while the Non-Aligned Movement was built around the struggle to support liberation from colonial rule, and Palestine is now the principal case of continued occupation.

In closing, I believe Vice Foreign Minister Muhammad Anis Matta’s study offers a serious reading of today’s global political landscape. His vision for strengthening relations with Egypt appears to be a strategic move to revive a shared historical legacy and develop it to meet 21st-century challenges.

This vision, I argue, also deserves careful consideration by countries in the region and should be revisited in deeper discussion with broader participation from Egypt’s political, cultural, and economic circles—perhaps even at a regional level—to shape a shared outlook that benefits the region as a whole.

I also see a strong Indonesia–Egypt strategic relationship as a potential foundation for a renewed political vision and economic repositioning—possibly even a new political alignment—for Middle Eastern countries and Indonesia as they confront the rising wave of what is being described as a new form of colonialism.

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