Lecturer of Department of International Relations, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) Hasanuddin University (UNHAS), H. Abdul Razaq Z. Cangara, S.IP., M.Si., M.IR. has accomplished Australia Awards Short Course on Foreign Policy; Strategic Equilibrium in the Indo-Pacific on 5 February 2026 after undergoing three phases of short course programs, covering Pre-Course Workshop in Jakarta, 26-28 August 2025, in Australia Short Course in Canberra, Brisbane, and Sydney, 10-26 October 2025, and Post-Course Workshop in Jakarta, 3-5 February 2026. This foreign policy short course was organised by Australia Awards Indonesia (AAI), sponsored by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), and hosted by Griffith University, Australia.
The short course was attended by 25 selected individuals representing foreign policy agencies, think tanks, and academia in Indonesia. It was aimed at providing professional training and networking for future foreign policy leaders and decision-makers to navigate the growing uncertainties in the Indo-Pacific region, clouded by US-China competition and emerging non-traditional security issues across maritime, economic, technological, and human security domains, and to realise strategic equilibrium in the Indo-Pacific.
The Pre-Course Workshop in Jakarta on 26-28 August 2025 prepared participants with an overview of the short-course program, including introductions to the course leaders, the host university, short-course program expectations, and a site visit to the Australian Embassy in Jakarta. The participants departed to Australia for the short course program on 10 October 2025, and landed in Canberra to undergo intensive in-class learning session with experts from Australian National University (ANU), Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) and University of New South Wales (UNSW) Canberra, and site visits and intense discussion with the senior diplomats in DFAT, and member of Australian Parliament.
After the Canberra sessions, the participants continue the program in Brisbane with in-class sessions delivered by experts from the University of Queensland (UQ) and Griffith University, as well as site visits to the Queensland Parliament. The in-Australia short course program ends in Brisbane and continues with one day of sightseeing in Sydney to immerse participants in Australian culture before heading back to Indonesia. Overall, the short course program cover wide range of issues in the context of Indo-Pacific geopolitical dynamics, from understanding the complexities of Australian foreign policy making, the role of parliament in Australian foreign policy, Australia defence policy, US-China competition, trend of economic coercion, competition in cyber space, the geopolitics of critical mineral, maritime security dynamic, Australia-China relations, down to Australia-Indonesia relations.
The short course certificate awarding session in the Post-Course Workshop on 5 February 2026 in Jakarta, where H. Abdul Razaq Z. Cangara, S.IP., M.Si., M.IR. was awarded with certificate of completion by the course leader Professor Ian Hall from Griffith University, marked the end of the 2025 AAI Short Course on Foreign Policy: Strategic Equilibrium in the Indo-Pacific and marked the new beginning of his agency to continuously contribute to the enhancement of Indonesia-Australia relations.
