Balancing Policy and Politics

This chapter seeks to identify the conditions that promote criminal justice cooperation between Australia and Indonesia. It argues that there is a structural tension between political and policy interests at the heart of the cooperative relationship. This tension emerges from the two forces that define the cooperative relationship: the politicization of transnational problems and the perception of mutual interests. It is animated by the different categories of actors engaged in the relationship: bureaucrats, politicians, and private actors. The chapter also suggests that cooperation is more likely to occur when political and policy interests are in balance, such that there is sufficient political will to pursue the cooperation and sufficient scope to execute it.