Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Last Speech At The UN General Assembly

JAKARTA - Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) is the President of Indonesia who is good at foreign politics. He actively spreads the message of friendship. A lot of international cooperation is established. The spread of Indonesian culture is everywhere.

He made every international conference his stage. Mainly, the United Nations (UN) general assembly. He never wasted the opportunity. His last speech made a scene. SBY like emphasized his nationalism by inserting the term Indonesian.

The greatness of the head of state is not only tested domestically. However, the greatness of the head of state is also tested in playing foreign politics. All because foreign politics is an important stage to get support, cooperation, and assistance from many countries in the world.

This effort is often played by SBY. The President of Indonesia from the 2004-2014 era is considered successful in maintaining political and economic stability in the country. A large provision for SBY to bring Indonesia to be active in foreign political regulations.

SBY believes foreign politics can be the answer to national development. This narrative can also be an important provision to maintain world peace as the ideals of the 1945 Constitution (UUD). This effort can be seen when SBY actively supports the existence of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

He considers ASEAN to be an important part of dealing with crucial problems in Southeast Asia. SBY believes ASEAN's contribution can also bring prosperity to its member countries. SBY also brought Indonesia active in wider foreign politics.

Indonesia is active in the G20 international forum. SBY also brought Indonesia actively involved in the big UN agenda. He brought Indonesia active in voicing Palestinian independence. Not to mention that SBY is paying important attention to the issue of warming global warming.

This activity makes Indonesia's name fragrant on the world stage. There is a lot of cooperation between countries. The spread of Indonesian culture is increasingly massive with the strategy of soft power diplomacy.

One decade of his reign, SBY left a positive legacy, namely political stability and economic growth that Indonesia needed to be more active in foreign politics. For ten years the government of SBY Indonesia has not only taken on the role of the prime minister of inter-pares (Leaders among equivalent countries) in ASEAN.

"However, it has also begun to play an important role in world organizations such as the G20 and the United Nations. Indonesia is taking an independent position in important issues ranging from the Syrian conflict to the issue of climate change. Indonesia's shining profile makes some parties classify it as one of the world's middle power," said Indriana Kartini in the book Indonesian Foreign Political Portrait in the Reformation Era (2020).

President SBY often specializes in the agenda of the UN general assembly at the United Nations Headquarters, New York, United States. He chose to come when other countries sent representatives of various vice presidents for speeches. SBY considers this an important momentum for Indonesia to be known to the world.

This condition was shown by SBY at the end of his reign. SBY took the time to make his last overseas visit. He is also preparing to attend the 69th UN general assembly session on September 24, 2014. He received the 14th speech sequence.

SBY's speech felt special because the momentum was his last speech at the UN session. SBY also tried to tell the experiences of Indonesia and ASEAN. He told how Southeast Asian countries unite to answer future challenges such as climate change and maintain peace.

He considers valuable lessons from Indonesia and ASEAN to be examples of other countries around the world to maintain peace. He revealed this narrative because SBY often serves as a negotiator when there are ASEAN state members who are in conflict.

SBY's speech lasted for 25 minutes. In particular, there is one part of the speech that was deliberately spoken by SBY in Indonesian: where there is a will, there is a way. The Indonesian insertion which was later revealed in English also received a positive response.

The roar of applause from the audience was inevitable. SBY was later remembered as the President who was actively present at the UN general assembly. The successor, Joko Widodo, is not like that. Jokowi's government cannot take advantage of international momentum to strengthen foreign politics.

"Given this spirit, I believe humanity can overcome the challenges of climate change, conquer poverty and eradicate social injustice, accelerate global economic recovery, and create a culture of peace among all religions, including the religions of Ibrahim."

"I am neither an utopian nor an idealist blind in understanding international relations. But I believe that with a strong commitment and political will, we can make it impossible," SBY said in his speech as quoted on the detik.com page the day after, September 25, 2014.