NAVAL EXPEDITIONARY STRATEGY AND INTERNATIONAL POLITICS: INDONESIA’S MILITARY OPERATIONS OTHER THAN WAR IN THE MV SINAR KUDUS RESCUE

Abstract

How do naval expeditionary operations conducted under Military Operations Other Than War (MOOTW) function within International political systems? While existing scholarship on maritime security and anti-piracy emphasizes operational effectiveness or multinational cooperation, it insufficiently theorizes how expeditionary military strategy interacts with domestic political dynamics in emerging maritime democracies. This article addresses that gap by analyzing Indonesia’s 2011 rescue of the hijacked vessel MV Sinar Kudus as an explanatory case of long-range naval force projection under governance. The article develops a dual-level analytical framework integrating operational effectiveness (time, space, and force) with grand strategic alignment and International political management (contestation and politicization). Employing process tracing based on elite interviews, official documents, and contemporaneous media discourse, the study demonstrates that expeditionary success in MOOTW contexts depends not merely on logistical reach or joint-force integration, but on multilevel synchronization between military execution, strategic objectives, and domestic legitimacy. The findings show that Indonesia’s deployment achieved operational coherence through calibrated escalation, peripheral maritime maneuver, and joint integration, while simultaneously maintaining political authorization and narrative legitimacy within an international environment. The article contributes to strategic studies by reconceptualizing expeditionary capability as a multidimensional synthesis of force projection, grand strategy, and International civil-military governance. In doing so, it extends naval expeditionary theory beyond great-power contexts and highlights how International political processes can structure—rather than constrain—limited maritime force projection.