Soft Power Pemerintah Pusat: Pendorong MoU Helsinki dalam Penyelesaian Konflik Aceh (1998-2005)

Abstract

The peace process between Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM) and the central government. It was not an easy procedure. A long process was experienced by both parties. For approximately 30 years, this prolonged conflict, the government tried with smart strategies to reduce and resolve this conflict. The purpose of this paper is to reveal the process of resolving this separatist conflict by paying attention to the role of the leader of the negotiation process, involving international actors in the course of the Helsinki MoU, and the response of the people of Aceh to the implementation of the agreement. In writing the article, the method used is the historical method through the stages of source criticism. The result of this writing is the discovery of the practice of the central government using soft power policies, because there has been no success in resolving through hard power policies. This smart strategy began to be implemented since the administration of President B. J. Habibie. The success of the soft power strategy reached its peak in 2005 with the establishment of the Helsinki MoU when President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took the lead.

Keywords: Aceh, Soft Power, Helsinki