On October 1, President Prabowo Subianto named Arrmanatha Nasir as Indonesia’s new foreign minister. Unlike Sugiono, the politician he replaces, Arrmanatha is a career diplomat who once served as Indonesia’s ambassador to the United Nations.

Analysts have said the foreign ministry was pushed aside in recent years while the president made most decisions himself. Many now hope the ministry will have a stronger voice again.

One of the first places to use that voice is the Middle East and North Africa, the region from Morocco to Iran. Indonesians are tied to it through faith, work, trade and energy, and almost all of these ties are now under strain.

Here are six things the new minister should do.

First, he should ask the president to reconsider Indonesia’s place in the Board of Peace, a group set up by US President Donald Trump to run Gaza after the war.

First, he should ask the president to reconsider Indonesia’s place in the Board of Peace, a group set up by US President Donald Trump to run Gaza after the war.

Prabowo has pledged 8,000 or more Indonesian soldiers for its new force in Gaza, and Indonesia accepted the job of deputy commander.

But this is not a normal United Nations peacekeeping mission. Rights groups have warned that it could put Indonesia on the wrong side of international law. Indonesian soldiers could end up enforcing a plan that Palestinians did not help write.

Indonesia has a proud record in UN peacekeeping. It should send troops to Gaza only under a clear UN mission that Palestinians accept. Until then, the deployment should be paused.

Second, Indonesia should begin to consider one Palestinian........

© Middle East Monitor