Many will not have missed the curious news of the stop selling Apple products recently decreed by the Indonesian government. A strong decision, almost unprecedented in its drastic nature, given that the measure does not only affect new sales, but also iPhones already in circulation: they are all “illegal” and, if possible, their use should be reported to the authorities. But what is behind this hostile stance towards the American company? Officially the reason lies in the promise that Apple has not kept invest 109 million dollars in the Asian country. And it makes sense, because commitments are commitments. However, there's more too. The new government, led by the controversial President, took office on Sunday 20 October in the world's fourth most populous country. Prabowo Subianto, 73 years old, former army general during the dictatorship from 1967 to 1998, entered politics in 2009 and was Minister of Defense in the previous legislature. Among the richest men in Indonesia with a fortune estimated at 150 million euros, Subianto won the elections 8 months ago and immediately hinted at a turning point in international relations: in the time between his election and taking office he has already made several institutional trips, starting not by chance with China and Russia and snubbing – for now – the United States.
Indonesia 2030: The New Anti-Western Giant Alongside Moscow and Beijing
The positioning of the country which in 2030 will reach 300 million inhabitants (of which 87% Muslims, including the president) and which in 2025 will enter the BRICS enlarged group right next to Moscow e Beijing, therefore, seems to be taking a clear direction: free rein in foreign policy and adherence to the anti-Western axis. It is no coincidence that one of the first measures was against one of the symbolic companies of the United States, Apple , but there had already been signs previously, during his term as Minister of Defense, when Subianto had proposed a peace plan to stop the war in Ukraine, associating himself with the initiative of China e Brazil, and had even gone so far – during a visit to Jordan – as to urge a ceasefire in the conflict in Palestine, offering to send Indonesian troops to support an international peacekeeping mission. Indonesia's posture, which today from Europe seems exotic and not particularly impactful on geopolitical balances, is in reality destined to be so: the new president, a staunch supporter of Vladimir Putin, should make his international debut in Rio de Janeiro for G20 scheduled for November 18-19, and governs a country that, according to growth projections, will become the world's fourth-largest economy by 2050, behind only India, China and the United States.
Indonesia between poverty and global ambitions: from Apple block to the dream of power
But today Indonesia is still a poor and marginalized country. Only 112th out of 192 countries in the Human Development Index, it has a per capita GDP of just over $15.000 (purchasing power parity) and lives a isolation commercial as well as one escape of the young. So much so that one of Subianto's promises during the election campaign was a scholarship to keep brains in the country, offering free meals. However, for this, food is needed, which is in short supply in Indonesia, and for this reason the new president wants to become active on the international front, but by hooking up to the train of the strongest economies, now represented more by the BRICS than by the Euro-Atlantic axis. In exchange, the Asian country offers raw material, especially mining, but it will also have to wisely manage the ecological transition that is now a global paradigm, and Indonesia has one of the largest rainforests in the world, already heavily threatened by projects for the construction of new cities within it. In short, behind Apple's blockade there is the figure of a former general, accused of atrocious crimes during the Suharto's ferocious dictatorship, linked to Putin and Xi Jinping and who wants to make his country a protagonist in the world. We will hear about it again.
