These geopolitical and geoeconomic dynamics of mutual suspicion have forced several national leaders to appoint their most trusted individuals as foreign ministers. Diplomacy is not only understood as formal lobbying; rather, various dimensions are part of diplomacy, including economic, security, military, and even intelligence.
Even Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdurrahman Al Thani holds the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs himself. Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud has a background in the military industry. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is a Republican politician with a background as a prosecutor, so in diplomacy he always applies prosecutor-like pressure to his interlocutors. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is a former elite soldier of the Turkish Army who served in NATO's Rapid Response Force and then joined the AKP, Turkey's ruling party.
President Prabowo Subianto himself stated that he would lead Indonesian diplomacy on the international stage. With this statement, President Prabowo Subianto appointed one of his key cadres, Sugiono, who had long been trained by President Prabowo Subianto at ‘Pesantren Hambalang’. For the past five years, Sugiono has studied geopolitical developments as Vice of Chief in Commission I of the Indonesian House of Representatives, which oversees foreign relations, defense, intelligence, and information.
Sugiono's loyalty to Prabowo Subianto is unquestionable. Sugiono willingly abandoned his military career, just as Hakan Fidan abandoned his stellar military career to accompany Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Prabowo Subianto, as Chairman of the Gerindra Party, subsequently appointed Sugiono as Secretary General. Sugiono's relationship with Prabowo Subianto has become increasingly close.
This means that Foreign Minister Sugiono represents President Prabowo Subianto, meaning that his meetings with a delegation are essentially meetings between that delegation and President Prabowo Subianto. This diplomatic strategy is appropriate amidst increasingly multipolar and pragmatic geopolitical and geoeconomic developments, and prioritizes a G-to-G approach over loosely binding political and economic alliances.
