Ambalat Netwar antara Indonesia-Malaysia, 2005: Refleksi Teoritis Mengenai Hubungan Internasional di Era Internet (original) (raw)

For the first time in the history of Indonesia-Malaysia relationships, both neighbouring countries involved in a war that surprisingly underwent in networks of online computers throughout the world generally coined ‘netwar’ or ‘cyberwar’. Conflicted claim over natural resources-rich Ambalat area between both countries were unavoided as a Malaysian State-Owned oil company (Petronas) gave exploration rights to a Dutch-based overseas oil company, Shell. This led to protests and demonstrations from the government of Indonesia and its people. Protracted crisis continued to online activisms that resulted in cyberattacks to many websites belong to both sides. This paper explaines to what extent this online crisis or netwar took place and its implication to the dynamics of International Relations in the Internet area. By locating netwar in the study of International Relations (IRs), this paper finds that the phenomenon of Ambalat netwar shows the continuing implication of globalization. Globalization has resulted in the increasing role of non-state actors and the decreasing role of state actors in global politics. More importantly, the internet era undoubtedly increases the role of individu in using the internet for undertaking online political activism, both nationally and globally. In line with this tendency, Ambalat netwar raised the role of individu in shaping the relationships, especially in the forms of conflict and cooperation, among nations, with special reference of Indonesia and Malaysia.