Putin's Autarchy Leadership in Energy Sovereignty: Implications for Indonesia's National Defense Strategy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63309/dialektika.v23i3.716Keywords:
Autarchy Leadership, Energy Autarky, Energy Sovereignty, National Defense, Vladimir Putin.Abstract
Changes in the contemporary geopolitical order have placed energy resources as a strategic instrument in international relations and national defense design. This study examines how Vladimir Putin's authoritarian-autarctic leadership style transforms energy sovereignty into a geopolitical tool and the implications of this policy for the design of defense strategy and doctrine, with an applied focus on efforts to develop an Indonesian national defense strategy based on strategic natural resources (SDA). The research approach used is qualitative descriptive, relying on a review of scientific literature (2021–2025), policy analysis, and an interdisciplinary analytical framework in the form of leadership theories (transformational, transactional, adaptive) and strategic analysis tools (PESTEL). The results identify the central characteristics of Putin's leadership: (1) institutional centralization and dominance of state-owned enterprises in energy governance; (2) instrumentalization of energy exports as a means of geopolitical coercion; and (3) strategic adaptation in the form of market pivots and import substitution due to external pressures. These energy policies have a direct impact on Russia's strategic design: financing military modernization through energy rents, increasing the resilience of the domestic military industry, and developing operational options below the threshold of conventional war; but also creating fiscal vulnerabilities and socio-environmental trade-offs. In the Indonesian context, the findings confirm that the use of natural resources to strengthen defense resilience has strategic potential if balanced with transparent governance, political legitimacy, environmental sustainability, and the adaptation of Pancasila values. Operational recommendations include strengthening state-owned enterprise governance, developing strategic reserves and decentralized infrastructure (microgrids), industrializing critical mineral value chains, and diversifying energy diplomacy. Limitations of the study include reliance on public secondary sources and the rapidly changing dynamics of the energy market; further research is recommended combining quantitative fiscal-energy scenario models and interview-based primary studies.
Keywords: Autarchy Leadership, Energy Autarky, Energy Sovereignty, National Defense, Vladimir Putin.
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