This September 23, 2025, before the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York, Indonesian President Prabowo Subaianto delivered a speech of rare intensity. Rare, because it has managed to combine historical memory, strategic vision and concrete proposals. In short, a vision of real multilateral leadership. Rare too, because it resonated as a reminder of the reasons for being of the UN: building an order based not on the law of the strongest, but on justice, dignity and balance between peoples, force in the service of law and not the opposite
By directly attacking Thucydide’s maxim – “The forts do what they can, the weak suffers what they should” – the Indonesian head of state has chosen to assert that law, not power, had to remain the keystone of international relations.
This speech also marked a turning point on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. Jakarta reaffirmed his attachment to a solution to two states, while recalling that Israel’s security had to be fully guaranteed. These words, pronounced by the president of the largest Muslim country, take on a considerable symbolic force. And when it concludes with a “SHALOM”he addressed a signal of respect and balance to the whole world.
Strong commitments
But beyond the symbols, Indonesia has made precise commitments. The President Suubianto proposed the deployment of 20,000 peacekeepers in Gaza under the United Nations mandate, showing that his country would not be satisfied with moral postures but would assume his operational responsibilities. Indonesia is already one of the main contributors to peacekeeping operations, and its army is recognized for its professionalism in difficult contexts. This offer reaffirms the availability of an actor ready to act where peace is in danger.
The General Assembly has thus heard the voice of a power which assumes a global role, and no longer only regional
In addition, this speech has not only focused on international security. The president also highlighted the concrete successes of his country: record production of rice, exports to countries in crisis (including Palestine), biofuels programs, investment corridors for green industries. He recalled that multilateral action could produce tangible results and that his country wanted to contribute not only to stability but also to sustainable and united development.
The general assembly thus heard the voice of a power which assumes a world role, and no longer only regional. The Indonesia of Prabowo Suubianto arises as a credible mediator, in power power, as a model of a emerging south which refuses the cynicism of the balance of power to reconnect with the founding spirit of the United Nations. In a world marked by the fragmentation and hardening of cleavages, this new voice deserves to be heard.
As a former United Nations, I have rarely felt with so much clarity the possibility that a state in full demographic, economic and strategic ascent proposes a path of reconciliation between principles and realities. Indonesia does not pretend to impose an immediate revolution. But it recalls that peace by law remains possible, if nations of its scale are the spokespersons and the craftsmen. One thing is certain: in the UN gallery, a new giant has risen to tell us what it can bring to the world.
*Jean-Paul Laborde is a former general subsecretary of the United Nations. He managed the executive management against the terrorism of the Security Council, held several high office within the UN and the French judiciary. He is also the traveling ambassador of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean, where he works in dialogue and the promotion of regional cooperation.
