The 29th Kijang Initiative Forum: Indonesian Maritime Diplomacy: Global Maritime Fulcrum and Beyond

His Excellency Dr. Rizal Sukma is the Ambassador of Republic of Indonesia to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Previously, he was Executive Director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Jakarta and a member of the Board of Advisors of the Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD). After receiving a PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1997, he has worked extensively on issues such as Southeast Asian security, ASEAN, Indonesia’s defense and foreign policy, military reform, Islam and politics, and domestic political changes in Indonesia. Dr. Sukma has served as a member of the National Committee on Strategic Defense Review at the Ministry of Defense, and as a member of the National Drafting Committee for the National Defense Bill (2000–2002) and the Armed Forces Bill (2002–2003). He was the first Indonesian to receive the Nakasone Award, in July 2005, and named one 100 Global Thinkers in 2009 by Foreign Policy magazine.